Saving Seafood

Can killing seals save salmon? Conservationists and Washington lawmakers disagree

July 23, 2026 — A marine wildlife hospital based in the Pacific Northwest is worried about an alarming trend: seals coming to them alive, but gravely injured.

Earlier this month, the organization treated its third seal in less than a year with a gunshot wound. That seal pup, named Waffles, was found over Fourth of July weekend. It had to be euthanized once it was determined its injuries were too severe.

“It’s not uncommon for us to see animals that have been shot,” said Casey Mclean, executive director and veterinary nurse at SR3 SeaLife Response + Rehab + Research. “Historically, we often found those animals dead. Now we’re starting to see more of them alive and suffering from gunshot injuries.”This trend, Mclean believes, is being fueled by misinformation about the role marine mammals play in Washington’s continually struggling salmon populations.

Her concern is amplified by a congressional bipartisan bill from two Washington lawmakers, U.S. Rep. Michael Baumgartner, a Republican, and U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, a Democrat. The Northwest Endangered Salmon Predation Prevention Act (H.R. 9621) would expand the ability of federal, state, and tribal authorities to remove seals and sea lions, known collectively as pinnipeds, from Washington waters in an effort to boost salmon recovery.

In statements to KING 5, both sponsors of the bill lambasted the shooting of the seal pup as illegal, but insisted it should not be confused with what they’re proposing.

“Joe Schmo or any person off the streets shouldn’t be shooting seals or sea lions,” Randall said. “What we have proposed is a robust process to figure out how we can have responsible management of a population that’s decimating our salmon.”

“No one should be illegally poaching sea lions,” Baumgartner said. “I hope the perpetrator is identified and brought to justice. This does not have anything to do with my bipartisan bill to try to save and restore our endangered salmon populations.”

Supporters of the proposal, like the representatives, argue reducing pinnipeds could help struggling salmon populations. However, critics like Mclean say the bill ignores more significant threats to salmon and risks repeating decades-old mistakes in wildlife management.

Read the full article at KUOW

MAINE: Maine seeks new ESA tools to speed Atlantic salmon recovery

July 16, 2026 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources (DMR) is asking federal fisheries officials to evaluate whether existing authorities under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) could help accelerate Atlantic salmon recovery while maintaining current protections.

In a June 4 letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service, DMR Commissioner Carl Wilson requested that NOAA review whether the ESA could provide additional flexibility to expand Atlantic salmon recovery efforts. The Bangor Daily News reported that the request could eventually create opportunities for tightly controlled, conservation-oriented catch-and-release fishing if the species recovers.

The request follows decades of habitat restoration, fish passage improvements and river connectivity projects that have benefited Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish. However, Sean Ledwin, director of the DMR Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat, said adult Atlantic salmon returns remain very low despite those investments.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Washington State River Restoration Project to Revive Salmon Habitat, Support Local Jobs

May 7, 2025 — This spring, NOAA partner the Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership broke ground on a large-scale salmon habitat restoration project on the lower East Fork Lewis River in Washington State. This project will support the recovery of threatened steelhead and salmon on one of the few undammed rivers in the Lower Columbia River watershed. It will also inject millions into the local economy and generate hundreds local jobs in construction, heavy equipment operations, trucking, engineering, forestry, and other industries.

In addition, the work will help maintain fishing opportunities that further contribute to the local economy.

Flooding Destroys Habitat

In 1996, Steve Manlow, Executive Director of the Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board, watched in horror as a 500-year flood event destroyed crucial salmon and steelhead habitat on the lower East Fork Lewis River. Flood waters breached the levees around nine abandoned gravel mining pits, fundamentally shifting the river’s course.

This once-braided, multi-channel river began flowing through the excavated pits. It formed a series of interconnected warm-water ponds that prevent salmon and steelhead from migrating upstream for much of the year. The river channel deepened, cutting off floodplain habitat and causing severe erosion downstream.

Read the full story at NOAA Fisheries

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

Feds say pesticide won’t destroy species

March 9, 2022 — The Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded that the pesticide malathion does not jeopardize threatened and endangered species or their habitat.

In a much-awaited study that’s drawing sharp criticism from environmentalists, the federal agency backed off its most recent draft conclusion that the registration of malathion for use was likely to threaten 78 species and destroy or adversely modify 23 critical habitats (Greenwire, April 21, 2021).

“The Biden administration has squandered a historic opportunity to rein in the dangerous use of one of the world’s worst neurotoxic pesticides,” Lori Ann Burd, environmental health director at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a statement today.

Burd noted that NOAA Fisheries recently released its own updated biological opinion that determined malathion and two other organophosphate pesticides jeopardize endangered U.S. salmon, sturgeon and steelhead species, as well as Puget Sound orcas.

Read the full story at E&E News

Cooke gets two wins, advancing Salish Fish steelhead project in Washington

March 1, 2022 — Cooke Aquaculture Pacific has won two victories allowing its plan to farm steelhead in the U.S. state of Washington to advance.

In a unanimous, 9-0 decision, the Washington Supreme Court upheld a decision by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) to allow Cook to convert its idle Atlantic salmon net-pen farms to raise steelhead. The move was precipitated by Washington’s ban on farming of non-native species in its waters.

Read the full story at SeafoodSource

Good ocean conditions could be good news for salmon, NOAA says

January 10, 2022 — Fish swimming out to sea over the past year have lucked into some of the best water temperatures and food abundance along the West Coast in the last 24 years, according to an analysis from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began monitoring ocean conditions.

That could be good news for salmon and steelhead over the next few years, biologists said.

The welcoming waters in 2021 appear to be the second most favorable for fish since scientists with NOAA began monitoring ocean conditions, said Brian Burke, research fisheries biologist at NOAA Fisheries.

“It’s sort of been this growing picture of, ‘Wow, things are really looking good right now across the board,’” Burke said.

“The upwelling created a really productive coastal system,” Burke said.

That productivity has built slowly over several years, Burke said, after a string of hard years for ocean-dwelling fish.

Read the full story at Oregon Public Broadcasting

 

House panel OKs spending to control sea lions

July 19, 2021 — U.S. Reps. Jaime Herrera Beutler (WA-03) and Kurt Schrader (OR-05) on July 14 announced that a joint Community Project Funding request they supported to protect endangered salmon, steelhead and other native fish species within the Columbia River system from sea lion predation, has been approved for $892,000.

The House Appropriations Committee — Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies included the funding request as part of its Fiscal Year 2022 spending plan. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is the recipient and would use the funding on equipment and related needs to remove sea lions in the Columbia River and its tributaries as outlined by a 2018 law Herrera Beutler and Schrader advocated.

The U.S. House as a whole and the U.S. Senate also must approve the spending before it will be dispersed to WDFW.

According to a press release from the representatives, the need for sea lion removal has sharply increased in recent years, as a record number of California and Steller sea lions come to the Columbia, Willamette and Snake Rivers, posing an extreme threat to struggling salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and other fish in the waterways. NOAA Fisheries says sea lions especially prey on adult salmon and steelhead migrating upriver from the ocean to Bonneville Dam, Willamette Falls and other tributaries to the Columbia River, further threatening the growth of native fish populations.

Read the full story at the Chinook Observer

Retired Biologist Leaves Legacy of Gains for Salmon Across Central Washington

June 23, 2021 — The following was released by NOAA Fisheries:

Dale Bambrick jokes he has seen the world, or at least as much as you can see between Issaquah and Ellensburg. He retired in May after 20 years leading NOAA Fisheries’ Ellensburg Office, and delivering critical gains for salmon and steelhead across Central Washington.

“I have never seen someone so committed to the resource, who was willing to say what was important and work so hard to make things happen,” said Barry Thom, Regional Administrator for NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region. “I have always appreciated Dale’s commitment and his humor to get us through some pretty tough issues.”

Dale Bambrick spent 37 years protecting and improving habitat and more to recover salmon in central Washington. Dale grew up in Issaquah and then crossed the mountains to attend Central Washington University in Ellensburg. He started as an art major, but with the encouragement of a professor he switched to biology.

In 1983 Dale’s advisor encouraged him to pursue a doctorate at Oregon State University. Instead, he accepted an offer from Grant County Public Utility District to join its environmental division. There he studied strategies to improve the survival of fish passing through dams, such as guidance nets that funnel fish toward safer passage routes. He also pondered the future: Should he be a teacher, a fish biologist, or go to graduate school?

In 1988 Dale left Grant County to work for the Yakama Nation’s fisheries division, starting as a habitat biologist. Three years later he became Environmental Director, building a strong team. He helped lay the foundations for habitat conservation plans in the upper Columbia, assuring improvements for salmon. He developed the fisheries portion of the Yakama Nation’s Forest Management Plan. He also helped shape state water policy, returning more water to streams for fish.

Read the full release here