Saving Seafood

OREGON: Oregon lawmakers urge Trump administration to declare fishery disaster

April 16, 2025 — A group of Oregon Democratic lawmakers are urging the Trump administration to declare a fishery disaster in the state after a drop in the salmon population.

In an April 11 letter to Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, the lawmakers asked the administration to approve Governor Tina Kotek’s disaster declaration request after Oregon’s troll salmon fishery struggled from the worsening effects of climate change in 2024 — from increased drought to shifting ocean conditions and to other impacts leading to poor salmon returns.

Struggling fisheries pose an economic and cultural threat to Oregon, the lawmakers said, noting the state’s commercial fishing industry garners more than $640 million in economic activity every year.

Read the full article at KOIN

Proposed federal cuts jeopardize Pacific salmon habitat restoration, tribal rights

April 14, 2025 — The Trump administration wants to eliminate several programs that benefit Pacific salmon, the iconic but widely threatened species of the Pacific Northwest.

Much of the effort to keep Pacific salmon from disappearing is funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

An internal document from the Office of Management and Budget, reviewed by KUOW, calls for eliminating NOAA’s Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, as well as national grant programs for species recovery, interjurisdictional fisheries, and habitat conservation and restoration.

Overall, NOAA would see a 27% cut in its $6 billion budget under the White House proposal, which has not been finalized and is subject to Congressional approval.

In 2023, the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund distributed $107 million to states and tribes, with Washington state receiving $26 million, more than any other recipient. Coastwide, the fund restored 3,624 acres of salmon habitat in 2023 and removed obstacles enabling salmon to reach an additional 202 miles of spawning streams, according to NOAA.

“It’s very troublesome because we just want to get the work done and get our salmon back,” Lummi Nation Councilmember Lisa Wilson said.

Read the full article at OPB

Ocean conditions mixed for salmon, leading to average salmon returns

April 11, 2025 — All signs point to mixed ocean conditions for salmon over the past couple of years, which fisheries biologists said could lead to average salmon runs.

The ocean is where salmon spend a large part of their lives. That’s why it’s super important to know what’s going on out there. It helps scientists better understand and predict how salmon are doing.

For a long time, scientists have studied what salmon eat. They also know where salmon go and know a lot more about their survival in the ocean. However, that could change if scientists no longer have funding for research on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration vessels.

“ It’s important to recognize if we’re not out there, continually studying this changing system, it can revert to a black box. It could become this thing we no longer understand how things are working,” said Brian Burke, a biologist with NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center.

Burke spoke at a Northwest Power and Conservation Council meeting. The council helps with regional fish and wildlife planning.

Read the full article at Northwest Public Broadcasting 

Streamlining data collection for improved salmon population management

February 7, 2025 — Sara Beery came to MIT as an assistant professor in MIT’s Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS) eager to focus on ecological challenges. She has fashioned her research career around the opportunity to apply her expertise in computer vision, machine learning, and data science to tackle real-world issues in conservation and sustainability. Beery was drawn to the Institute’s commitment to “computing for the planet,” and set out to bring her methods to global-scale environmental and biodiversity monitoring.

In the Pacific Northwest, salmon have a disproportionate impact on the health of their ecosystems, and their complex reproductive needs have attracted Beery’s attention. Each year, millions of salmon embark on a migration to spawn. Their journey begins in freshwater stream beds where the eggs hatch. Young salmon fry (newly hatched salmon) make their way to the ocean, where they spend several years maturing to adulthood. As adults, the salmon return to the streams where they were born in order to spawn, ensuring the continuation of their species by depositing their eggs in the gravel of the stream beds. Both male and female salmon die shortly after supplying the river habitat with the next generation of salmon.

Throughout their migration, salmon support a wide range of organisms in the ecosystems they pass through. For example, salmon bring nutrients like carbon and nitrogen from the ocean upriver, enhancing their availability to those ecosystems. In addition, salmon are key to many predator-prey relationships: They serve as a food source for various predators, such as bears, wolves, and birds, while helping to control other populations, like insects, through predation. After they die from spawning, the decomposing salmon carcasses also replenish valuable nutrients to the surrounding ecosystem. The migration of salmon not only sustains their own species but plays a critical role in the overall health of the rivers and oceans they inhabit.

Read the full article at MIT News

Pacific salmon restoration efforts see massive influx of funding from US Congress

December 30, 2024 — As Pacific salmon navigate their way upstream to spawn along the U.S. West Coast, they desperately need patches of cold water to rest and replenish.

Historically, log jams provided many of these fish refuge by diverting the flow of rivers and creating deep, cool pools of water for salmon to recover on their epic journey. Due to human interference, many of those naturally occurring barriers and the adjacent wooded areas that created them are gone, degrading salmon habitats and making passage more difficult for the species.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Canada announces plans for new British Columbia salmon hatchery

December 23, 2024 — The Canadian government has announced plans for the construction of a new Pacific Salmon hatchery in the province of British Columbia, which will be run collaboratively by the Tŝilhqot’in National Government and Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO).

“Canada is investing today to support the conservation and restoration of vulnerable Pacific salmon populations, such as Chilcotin Chinook, for the long term,” Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard Diane Lebouthillier said in a statement. “Under the Pacific Salmon Strategy Initiative, we are partnering with Indigenous Peoples, governments, stakeholders, and communities to ensure that Pacific salmon are safeguarded for Indigenous communities and Canadians with a deep and enduring connection to these iconic fish.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ESA protections will continue for Pacific salmon, steelhead

December 17, 2024 — Federal protections for four West Coast salmon and steelhead species will remain in place for at least another five years, even as some populations have made progress toward recovery, according to NOAA.

The decision, based on formal status reviews, means restoration of salmon runs will continue for California coastal chinook salmon, central California coast steelhead, California Central Valley steelhead and Southern Oregon/Northern California coast coho salmon.

The combined fishery, which extends from the San Francisco Bay to the southern Oregon coast, includes key river runs from California’s Central Valley and the Sierra Nevada. Those habitat areas continue to “suffer from habitat loss as development and other threats compromise spawning and rearing habitat [that are] particularly important in preparing young salmon for a life at sea,” NOAA Fisheries said last week.

Read the full article at E&E News

Biden admin announces USD 99 million for Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund

December 5, 2024 — The U.S. Department of Commerce will provide USD 99 million (EUR 94 million) in annual funding for Pacific salmon and steelhead recovery efforts through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF), the government announced 4 December.

“Since day one, the Biden-Harris administration has been committed to salmon recovery along the West Coast, and this new funding will help NOAA boost efforts to aid Pacific salmon survival and recovery,” U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said in a statement.

Read the full story at Seafood Source

Biden-Harris Administration, NOAA makes $99 million available for Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund

December 4, 2024 — Today, the Department of Commerce and NOAA Fisheries announced up to $99 million in funding through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund (PCSRF) for conservation and recovery projects focusing on Pacific salmon and steelhead. This funding — which includes $34.4 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) — will advance state and tribal efforts to restore salmon populations and habitats, and bolster climate and economic resilience in surrounding communities.

“Since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has been committed to salmon recovery along the West Coast and this new funding will help NOAA boost efforts to aid Pacific salmon survival and recovery,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “This investment, made possible thanks to President Biden’s commitment to investing in America, will help get Pacific salmon populations closer to the healthy and abundant levels our West Coast ecosystems and communities need, and help create new jobs that enhance climate resilience along our coasts.”

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

OREGON: Wyden, Merkley announce more than $35M in federal funds for salmon recovery

August 23, 2024 — Senators Wyden and Merkley are announcing some major funding to support salmon recovery in Oregon.

The two U.S. Senators announced Wednesday that both Oregon and the Klamath Basin are receiving more than $35 million from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund. The federal grant program helps to restore Pacific salmon and steelhead.

The money will be distributed between the Klamath River Inter-Tribal Fish and Water Commission and the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.

Senator Merkley says Oregon’s salmon population is critical in sustaining the state’s commercial and recreational fisheries as well as being a crucial part of the cultural heritage of Oregon’s Indigenous Tribes.

Read the full article at KOBI