Saving Seafood

US lawmakers debate future of Lower Snake River dams and salmon recovery in the Pacific Northwest

September 10, 2025 — A bill from a Republican U.S. lawmaker that would block the federal government from removing four dams on the Lower Snake River has renewed debate in Congress over the future of salmon recovery in the Pacific Northwest.

“I have been working hard with allies of the Lower Snake River dams to ensure we do everything possible to protect them, and this hearing today marks another success in that effort. This legislation guarantees that federal funds will not be used to breach, or even study breaching, the dams and protects the Army Corps and [the Bonneville Power Administration’s] rights to control spillage operations,” U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse (R-Washington) – the sponsor of the bill – said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

World Fish Migration Day 2022: helping fish migrate helps the economy

May 17, 2022 — World Fish Migration Day 2022 is celebrated on May 21. It’s a time to look at NOAA Fisheries efforts to help fish migrate and how that reflects, in an effective way, on the fishing industry.

May 21, 2022 is World Fish Migration Day, a global celebration to raise awareness on the importance of free flowing rivers and migratory fish. Every year, millions of fish migrate to their native habitats to reproduce. They are often blocked from completing their journey by dams and other man made barriers. You may think that this is not a problem for the fishing industry, but when fish can’t reach their habitat, their populations can’t grow… so there is less fish to capture. So, to sum it up: open rivers translate into abundant fish.

Read the full story at National Fisherman

 

WASHINGTON: State legislators fund ‘stakeholder forum’ for orca recovery, dam removal

April 30, 2019 — Conservationists, industry officials and other Snake River “stakeholders” will bring dam breaching to the center of the orca recovery conversation with a $750,000 forum, which received funding in the state Legislature’s budget proposal last weekend.

Proposals to remove the Ice Harbor, Lower Monumental, Lower Granite and Little Goose dams on the Lower Snake River are well-backed by conservationists, who say the move would help restore dwindling salmon and orca populations. However, regional commerce and power industries that rely on the dams have historically opposed the idea. Those opponents say removing the dams would make it impossible to move cargo along the Snake River, and it would reduce the amount of clean energy available in the region.

Inslee’s task force recommended the forum last fall as a way to “proactively identify and detail” a plan for several communities that use the river, should the federal government decide to remove those dams, according to a press release by several fish and orca advocacy groups.

“For decades, our elected officials have avoided the difficult conversations we need to have about the lower Snake River dams and their impact on salmon and orcas,” said Robb Krehbiel, Northwest representative for Defenders of Wildlife and member of the Southern Resident Orca Task Force. “Bringing people together to work collaboratively on solutions that help salmon, orca and our communities is the right next step.”

Read the full story at The Daily News

WASHINGTON: Gov. Jay Inslee’s orca-recovery agenda advancing, but billion-dollar funding yet to be seen

April 22, 2019 — Gov. Jay Inslee’s orca agenda is advancing in the Washington state Legislature, but with the budget yet to be decided how much of the governor’s billion-dollar-bold ambition will be accomplished is yet to be seen.

Budgets passed by the House and Senate so far contain no funding to continue the governor’s task force on orca recovery. There’s no agreement yet on funding the governor’s proposed panel to consider the effects of breaching the Lower Snake River dams. And revenue measures to help pay for everything, from increasing hatchery production to enforcement of habitat protections, have yet to be decided.

There also were policy disappointments for the governor, who got no takers for his request for legislation to put a temporary stop on whale watching of southern resident killer whales; no lawmaker would introduce the bill. A vessel noise-reduction package will take years to implement with rule making yet to be done, and because U.S. Coast Guard regulations include important exemptions, including for commercial shipping that makes most of the noise that can disrupt orcas as they hunt.

Read the full story at the Seattle Times