Sonoma Land Trust builds ‘living shoreline’ to thwart erosion at…

The Press Democrat — Julian Meisler stood on a human-made levee at low tide along the shore of San Pablo Bay, surveying 1,000 acres of a dark brown, mostly barren mud flat. “That’s exactly what we want to see,” said Meisler. He is the project manager of Sonoma Land Trust’s 15-year campaign to restore wetlands intended to protect the Highway 37 corridor — with both a roadway and Read More…

Duvall nonprofit sues Department of Fish and Wildlife over salmon…

Snoqualmie Valley Record — Wild Fish Conservancy, a Duvall-based nonprofit, and The Conservation Angler filed suit against the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), alleging that the agency violated the State Environmental Policy Act. The nearly 200-page lawsuit, filed Oct. 11 in King County Superior Court, is alleging that the WDFW has been ignoring state environmental laws, Read More…

$4 million project to improve Kennewick’s Clover Island begins this…

Tri-City Herald — Construction is ready to begin on a $4 million project at Clover Island in Kennewick. Plans call for extending the walking trail from the lighthouse along part of the north edge of the island, adding benches, safety lighting and landscaping. And three viewpoints are planned. The project also will help four species listed as endangered — upper Columbia River spring-run Read More…

PGE, Warm Springs Tribes give $1 million for Crooked River salmon…

KTVZ — Portland General Electric and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, co-owners of the Pelton Round Butte hydroelectric project on the Deschutes River, announced Tuesday a $1 million grant to the Deschutes Land Trust for habitat restoration aiding migratory salmon in the Crooked River. The grant was awarded through a special round of funding from the Pelton Round Butte Fund, through Read More…

Fishery Closures and the Ghosts of Past Mistakes

Hakai Magazine — David Christian, a 63-year-old gill-netter, first heard about the Pacific salmon fishery closures via cellphone while he was getting his 11-meter Grizzly King gill-netter ready to fish for salmon. The news spread quickly across the calm June waters off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, as fishers jumped on the radio to figure out what had just Read More…

California, Hoopa Valley Tribe try to save salmon and a way of life

KFGO — California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials are completing an unprecedented effort to save more than 1 million Chinook salmon, a campaign that also may help preserve a way of life for a Native American tribe. In June, salmon hatched at the Klamath River’s Iron Gate hatchery were temporarily trucked to a Trinity River hatchery in Northern California. The finger-length Read More…

Remoteness does not enhance coral reef resilience, according to…

PhysOrg — There's a widespread hypothesis that links the resilience of coral reefs with their remoteness from human activities—the farther away they are from people, the more likely corals are to bounce back from disturbances. "The idea is that these coral reefs might serve as arks, that they could harbor biodiversity and intact ecosystems," said UC Santa Barbara marine ecologist Adrian Read More…

Microplastics making their way up to belugas in Arctic through prey,…

Times Colonist — Hundreds of thousands of tiny bits of plastic waste have been found in the prey of belugas, proving that the pollution in the whales is making its way even to the most remote Arctic waters, a new study says. In the study, published in the journal Science of the Total Environment, researchers looked at five species of Arctic fish that are regular prey of belugas and found 21 Read More…

Giant jellyfish threaten Japanese fisheries

Honolulu Star Advisor — Swarms of giant jellyfish are floating along the coastline of the Sea of Japan, and the damage they have been causing fisheries is feared to be the worst in more than a decade. Nomura’s jellyfish is one of the world’s largest, with a bell of up to 6-1/2 feet in diameter and a weight that can hit 440 pounds. When tangled in fishing nets, the jellyfish can damage Read More…

Faced with crashing crab stocks, council looks to swiftly analyze…

Alaska Journal of Commerce — As crab fishermen face a dire season in Western Alaska this year, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is looking for quick analysis and the fleet is looking for more extensive closures to protect some crab stocks. Survey data has shown an approximately 90% drop in snow crab stocks since the last survey, pushing acceptable catch limits down, while the Read More…