Wednesday December 18, 2024
Boise State Public Radio —
Average salmon and steelhead counts in the Columbia River Basin over the last decade are still well below officials’ goal of five million fish per year.
From 2014 to 2023, just 2.3 million salmon and steelhead made the same journey. That’s an improvement from the ‘90s when that average fell to 1.3 million fish due to dams, predation and other environmental factors.
Both are still stark declines from estimates in the mid 1800s. Officials believe between 10-16 million salmon and steelhead returned to the Columbia River Basin annually.
Kate Self, a fish and wildlife scientist with the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, said during the group’s December meeting that part of the uptick is from boosting juvenile fish survival rates.