Saving Seafood

WASHINGTON: Fewer sockeye are returning to the Upper Columbia. Washington closed its fishery to protect the salmon

July 10, 2026 – It’s a tough year for sockeye salmon in the Upper Columbia River. So few sockeye are returning to their spawning grounds that Washington isn’t allowing sockeye fishing from Priest Rapids Dam to Chief Joseph Dam. The season was supposed to open July 1.

It’s hard to predict just how many salmon will return in any given year, but fishery managers said they were shocked with how few sockeye reached Bonneville Dam.

They expected around 275,000 sockeye. Now, the forecast looks like fewer than 80,000 fish will return. That’s about 71% fewer sockeye.

These fish that migrate in the summer naturally have booms and busts. Recent low returns happened in 2011, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Some of the highest counts came in 2022 and 2024.

However, this few sockeye is troubling, said Chad Jackson, a fish biologist in north central Washington for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Read the full article at NWPB 

Tribes Team With Northwest Researchers To Show Viability Of Salmon Above Upper Columbia Dams

May 7, 2021 — The first time salmon were released above Chief Joseph and, later, Grand Coulee dams, Hemene James watched elders from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe. Many weren’t even old enough to remember when salmon last swam in those waters.

In their faces he saw pure emotion, as salmon slipped into the waters where they hadn’t been since Grand Coulee Dam blocked their path in 1942.

Then, he looked at the children. Their excitement was infectious. They jumped and ran into the water, trying to catch the fish swimming upstream.

“It was a little, tiny glimpse of what our world used to be like in the days that the fish were here. So it was very moving and very encouraging,” James says. “This work gets monotonous at times and you feel like you’re spinning your wheels. But that was that glimmer of hope from the old ones that you guys are on the right path. Keep moving.”

Now a tribal council member, James remembers his grandfather telling stories of when they could still fish for salmon in the Upper Columbia.

At salmon camps, cousins and relatives would gather together, often only seeing each other at that time of year. Leaders from different bands would meet.

Read the full story at NWPB

Rising water temperatures could be a death sentence for Pacific salmon

February 12, 2021 — In the Pacific Northwest, several species of salmon are in danger of extinction. The Washington State Recreation and Conservation Office has released a report on the state of salmon populations in the state’s watersheds—and the findings predict a grim future.

The report was commissioned by the Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office, established by the state legislature in 1998 in response to the Salmon Recovery Planning Act. Its findings showed that 10 to 14 species of  in the northwest are “threatened or endangered,” and five species are “in crisis.”

The findings, though alarming, are in line with population trends over the last few decades. The once prolific salmon populations in Washington State have been declining for years, and populations are now estimated to be at about 5% of historic highs.

The five species of salmon and steelhead that the report found to be most at risk are Snake River spring/summer chinook, Puget Sound chinook, Lake Ozette sockeye, Upper Columbia River spring chinook, and Puget Sound steelhead—a sampling that covers a wide geographic area in the state.

Read the full story at PHYS.org