Saving Seafood

OREGON: Oregon coast lawmakers push back on fish hatchery cuts

July 8, 2026 — The Bonneville Power Administration said in June that it would cut funding for a program that raises millions of salmon in hatcheries.

But a bipartisan group of Oregon coastal lawmakers wants the agency to reverse that decision, saying it could rock the commercial and sportfishing industries that their communities rely on.

BPA provides more than $2 million annually to the Select Area Fisheries Enhancement, or SAFE, program, which the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife manages. It has helped cover more than a third of the SAFE program’s cost.

Read the full article at OPB

OREGON: Slashed Columbia River funding will be ‘devastating’ for salmon population, Oregon lawmakers warn

July 6, 2026 — A group of Oregon lawmakers are decrying the “sudden loss” of funding for a Columbia River hatchery program — warning Oregon’s fish population will be devastated without the funds.

On Thursday, Democratic Oregon lawmakers in the U.S. House and Senate sent a letter to the Bonneville Power Administration, criticizing the agency’s decision to stop funding the Safe Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) program.

The program was established in 1993, providing stocks of hatchery-raised fish such as Spring chinook and coho salmon for commercial and recreational fisheries in the Lower Columbia River Basin.

Read the full article at KOIN

Studies document impact of warm streams on juvenile salmon

July 6, 2026 — New studies at the University of British Columbia confirm the increasing heat stress for juvenile salmon at this vulnerable stage of their lives.

The studies by UBC’s Pacific Salmon Ecology and Conservation Lab document how young fish cope with heat differently than older fish and that current methods of measuring that stress underestimate the risks these fish face in warming waterways.

The study exploring the biological mechanisms that influence heat tolerance was published in the Journal of Experimental Biology. The study examining swimming performance and survival at different temperatures was accepted by the journal Conservation Physiology.

UBC researchers focused in these two studies on juvenile Chinook salmon, but have

previously examined thermal tolerance in all life stages of sockeye and adult coho, adult Chinook, and adult pink, said studies leader Scott Hinch, a professor of fisheries conservation at UBC. Similar conditions have been observed in Alaska, Washington state, Oregon and California, he said.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Environmental group sues federal government to boost protections for Pacific coast sunflower sea stars

June 29, 2026 — The Center for Biological Diversity has filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, pushing to finalize long‑delayed protections for the imperiled sunflower sea star.

Sunflower sea stars (Pycnopodia helianthoides) are enormous compared to their counterparts, about 3 feet wide with up to 24 arms. They display a wide range of colors, often in combinations including bright orange, yellow-red, brown, purple, pink and occasionally blue. They occur throughout intertidal and subtidal coastal waters of the Northeast Pacific Ocean from the Aleutian Islands, Alaska, to at least northern Baja California, Mexico.

The animals used to be abundant along Oregon’s coast — but nearly 90% of the entire population has been lost due to a gruesome disease known as Sea Star Wasting Syndrome. It causes their arms to twist, melt away and fall off, ultimately resulting in death.

Read the full article at KLCC

OREGON: Oregon’s fishing industry celebrates new USDA Office of Seafood

June 26, 2026 — Oregon’s fishing industry has expressed strong support for the new USDA Office of Seafood.

Yelena Nowak, Oregon Trawl Commission director, called the development long overdue and said the agency will provide increased opportunities with grants, marketing and promotions.

Fishermen and seafood processors haven’t had access to many USDA programs because of their wild catch, she said.

Read the full article at Capital Press

Commerce Department releases $123.6 million in fishery disaster aid

June 24, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Commerce announced June 17 the allocation of $123.6 million in fishery disaster relief funding to address a series of commercial fishery collapses that struck Alaska, Oregon, California, and Washington’s Squaxin Island Tribe between 2019 and 2023. The money was appropriated by Congress through the American Relief Act, 2025.

The funding covers six previously declared fishery resource disasters: the 2023–2024 Bering Sea snow crab fishery in Alaska; the 2023 Oregon ocean commercial salmon fishery; the 2022 Chignik salmon fishery in Alaska; the 2023 Upper Cook Inlet East Side Setnet salmon fishery in Alaska; the 2024 California Sacramento River Fall Chinook and Klamath River Fall Chinook ocean and inland salmon fisheries; and the 2023 Squaxin Island Tribe Puget Sound Fall Chum salmon fishery in Washington.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA announces USD 124 million in fisheries disaster assistance

June 23, 2025 — NOAA has announced USD 124 million (EUR 109 million) in fisheries disaster aid to the states of Alaska, Oregon, and California, as well as the Squaxin Island Tribe.

“Fishery resource disasters have devastating effects on local communities and our economy,” NOAA Administrator Neil Jacobs said in a release. “This disaster funding provides much needed assistance to our fishing industry, and we will work with the affected communities to help them recover. This action demonstrates our continued commitment to hardworking American fishermen and to the president’s vision to uphold the United States as the world’s dominant seafood leader.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

OREGON: BPA funding cut puts 7 million SAFE hatchery salmon at risk, threatens Oregon fisheries

June 22, 2026 — Oregon fishery managers are scrambling after learning the Bonneville Power Administration is ending its share of funding for a key salmon program in the Lower Columbia River, a move state officials say threatens hatchery production and could ripple through commercial and recreational fishing.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said it was notified Thursday that BPA is terminating its share of funding for the Select Area Fisheries Enhancement Program effective Sept. 30, 2026. ODFW said the decision provides barely three months’ notice and carries major consequences for Oregon’s commercial and recreational fisheries.

Read the full article at CBS2

Northwest’s yanked observatories to return to ocean after Trump administration backs down

June 19, 2026 — The Trump administration has reversed course on its effort to shut down a network of ocean research stations in the Pacific and Atlantic oceans.

The National Science Foundation on Thursday announced a halt to the dismantling of floating scientific observatories off Alaska, North Carolina, Oregon, Washington, and Greenland.

Researchers were offloading the last of the Ocean Observatories Initiative’s six high-tech data buoys from Pacific Northwest waters onto a flatbed truck in Newport, Oregon, Thursday morning when they got the word: The science foundation was turning the dismantling ship around.

“The U.S. National Science Foundation appreciates the concerns raised by the range of stakeholders that have informed us they rely on data from the Ocean Observatories Initiative (OOI),” the agency’s statement reads. “Effective immediately, NSF will not proceed with further removal or descoping of equipment from the remaining arrays and will continue operations including planned maintenance.”

Read the full article at KUOW

Deep sea observation system that tracks climate change saved from disassembly

June 19, 2026 — A critical deep ocean observation network that includes a long-standing station off the coast of Alaska has been saved from getting dismantled. As first reported by the New York Times, the Trump administration dropped its plan to get rid of the ocean and climate tracking system after the U.S. Senate unanimously blocked the move this week.

Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley sponsored the measure, which prohibits the National Science Foundation from spending federal money to remove the equipment anchored off the coast of Alaska, Washington, Oregon, North Carolina and in an area called the Irminger Sea between Iceland and Greenland.

On the Senate floor Wednesday, Murkowski said the Ocean Observatories Initiative collects hard-to-access information that’s critical for understanding warming seas.

“This is all happening at a time when everybody’s talking about El Niño, and what that is going to bring in terms of the potential for extreme weather events,” Murkowski said. “This is not the time to be turning off one of our most valuable scientific assets.”

Read the full article at KTOO