Record-low numbers of steelhead returning to Columbia River
Just 29,000 steelhead passed the Bonneville Dam since July 1 – the fewest ever recorded and less than half the average of the past five years.
Steelhead
With Idaho steelhead numbers floundering, wildlife officials give nod to keep fishing open on most rivers
Commission last month voted to suspend the steelhead fishing season because of a possible federal lawsuit by six conservation groups contending the state’s steelhead regulations harm federally protected wild steelhead. The portions of Idaho rivers that remain closed to anglers under the deal are areas where wild steelhead are known to congregate.
Recent regs change aids anglers in landing fish
Previous reg created a safety issue for anglers fishing for steelhead from boats, as there was concern anglers would not be safe if they had to lean well over the side of the boat to net a steelhead with such a short net handle.
Environmental groups sue over decline of steelhead, chinook
State biologists fear the winter steelhead could go extinct in the Molalla, Santiam, McKenzie and Middle Fork rivers – four key tributaries to the Willamette River.
DNR to change trout stocking in Lake Superior
Genetically screened steelhead will replace Kamloops in effort to bolster fishing opportunities and protect steelhead.
California salmon will have places to chill with dam removal
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ranks winter-run Chinook as one of eight marine species most at risk of extinction.
Group calls for fishing ban to protect Idaho steelheads
LEWISTON, Idaho — Fisheries managers should shut down steelhead fishing in the Columbia and Snake river basins to protect a wild run that returns to Idaho’s Clearwater River, according to a conservation group. The Conservation Angler told The Lewiston Tribune in a story on Saturday that even catch-and-release regulations threaten the survival of B-run steelhead. In a letter to Idaho…
Idaho utility continues bid to negate Oregon fish law
Steelhead are at the center of the FishPass controversy.BOISE, Idaho — An Idaho utility is challenging a decision by federal regulators rejecting its request to negate an Oregon law requiring fish passage as part of relicensing for a hydroelectric project on the Snake River. Idaho Power on Friday petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit…
Lawsuit: Water diversions in Utah’s Sawtooth Valley harming salmon
Says U.S. Forest Service is violating environmental laws by failing to do mandatory consulting on the 23 projects with other federal agencies and instead is continuing to authorize the irrigation diversions in violation of the Endangered Species Act.
Oregon lowers bag limit for summer steelhead
Oregon officials expect the reduced bag limit for hatchery steelhead will be temporary, but it marks a conservative beginning to a season that’s expected to be hampered by low returns. As of Monday, only 70,000 hatchery and 25,000 wild steelhead have passed Bonneville Dam – 30 percent of the most recent 10-year average.
In Oregon, Rogue River’s summer steelhead returns above 10-year average
Early freshwater return has allowed the fish to avoid the drought and poor ocean conditions of the past few years that have impacted its species elsewhere.
In Oregon, low steelhead returns could mean summer fishing restrictions
One plan fisheries managers are considering to combat the low returns is restricting where anglers can fish during each month.
Oregon looking to bulk up steelhead possibilities in select creeks
The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department is acclimating about 6,500 young steelhead in Greens Creek for two weeks in hopes the fish will return to the same area in several years as 8-pound adults.
NYSDEC exceeds target in steelhead egg take
Meanwhile, biologists throughout Lake Erie have been implanting acoustic transmitters in walleye to understand fish movements and how they relate to fishing effort and harvest.
In Columbia River Basin, more dangers than usual for young migrating salmon
Fish could face a potentially lethal problem in spillways at dams where increased nitrogen in the water can cause tissue-damaging gas bubble trauma.
Michigan remains at forefront of steelhead-growing movement
Since 1968, the Little Manistee River weir has served as the sole source of winter-run steelhead eggs for fish hatcheries in Michigan, Ohio and Indiana. Yearling steelhead produced through hatchery operations are stocked in select tributaries of all the Great Lakes.
Steelie stocks shifting
Ohio Division of Wildlife has had to use its “Plan B” for the agency’s steelhead fisheries program in 2015 and 2016, and might again in 2017 if Michigan’s Little Manistee strain of steelhead trout remain uncooperative.
Huge fish loss at Washington state hatchery
Of roughly 625,900 steelhead and 90,600 cutthroat smolt reared by Cowlitz Trout Hatchery for release in 2016, roughly 514,000, or about 70 percent of the stock, went missing prior to release
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