Unlimited Salmon / Steelhead News Update...

[Woolly Bugger]

Federal grants will replace water tunnels beneath roads that are harmful to fish

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced nearly $200 million in federal infrastructure grants to upgrade tunnels that carry streams beneath roads but can be deadly to fish that get stuck trying to pass through.

Many of the narrow passages known as culverts, often made from metal pipes or concrete, were built in the 1950s and contribute to population declines of salmon and other fish that live in the ocean but return to freshwater streams to spawn.

https://www.wsls.com/news/national/2023/08/16/federal-grants-will-replace-tunnels-beneath-roads-that-let-water-pass-but-not-fish/

[Woolly Bugger]

Skeena River steelhead numbers reach alarming low
Predicted steelhead numbers hit near-record low, sparking concern among anglers and conservationists

Steelhead figures in Skeena River have reached an alarmingly low count, as reported by the region's foremost fish tracking organization, the Tyee Test Fishery.

The monitoring of steelhead, which began in 1954, reveals that this year is likely to be the fourth-worst in history for the renowned trout species.

The forecast for this season's steelhead numbers is roughly 10,200, with over half of the stock, 55 per cent to be precise, already accounted for, says B.C. Forestry Associate Fish Director Mike Ramsay.


There have been no specific regulations or alterations for anglers announced at this time, but the ministry has left open the possibility of closures if circumstances require.


https://www.interior-news.com/news/skeena-river-steelhead-numbers-reach-alarming-low/

[Woolly Bugger]

Clearwater steelhead return off to surprising start
Fisheries managers predicted 'doom and gloom' but very early numbers show B-run may be OK; fall chinook run similar to recent returns

Something unusual appears to be happening with Idaho-bound steelhead and, if it holds, it's a good thing.

In their preseason forecast, fisheries managers expected the Snake River summer run would be dismal. The earlier returning A-run would be poor, according to the prediction, but the B-run would approach the worst ever recorded and could prompt fishing restrictions.

Those forecasts are compiled over the winter, long before the fish enter the mouth of the Columbia River and start pushing inland. In July, when A-run fish started arriving at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia, they showed some life and continue to do so. Granted, the numbers are low, well below goals and far short of more robust returns a decade ago. But they are better than some of the poor returns posted between 2017 and 2021.

Now the B-run fish are showing up. Those bound for the Clearwater River also are defying poor expectations — by a lot.

https://www.lmtribune.com/outdoors/clearwater-steelhead-return-off-to-surprising-start/article_0349d412-af00-5277-90cc-6214d23ab3fe.html

[jwgnc]

Federal grants will replace water tunnels beneath roads that are harmful to fish
The Biden administration on Wednesday announced nearly $200 million in federal infrastructure grants to upgrade tunnels that carry streams beneath roads but can be deadly to fish that get stuck trying to pass through.
Many of the narrow passages known as culverts, often made from metal pipes or concrete, were built in the 1950s and contribute to population declines of salmon and other fish that live in the ocean but return to freshwater streams to spawn.
https://www.wsls.com/news/national/2023/08/16/federal-grants-will-replace-tunnels-beneath-roads-that-let-water-pass-but-not-fish/

There was a similar Federal Grant about 30 years ago: The Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) of 1991.  It said, in part, that DOT projects had to be "environmentally sound".  Grants like this get allocated to states and then to counties who try to get a piece of the pie.

Long story, but I wrote a grant request, and we got about $300k in today's dollars to fix three culverts that were spilling silt and road salt run-off into our favorite trout stream.  A 10% increase in the county DOT budget.  The money will be out there – you just have to ask for it.

[Woolly Bugger]

New program in Terra Nova aims to preserve thriving salmon populations


The Atlantic Salmon Federation has launched a new conservation program aimed not at areas where fish are at risk, but rather at areas where salmon are thriving, with the goal to keep it that way for years to come.

The federation, which operates within the Atlantic provinces, has chosen four salmon watersheds: the Margaree and Cheticamp Rivers in Nova Scotia, the Nepisiguit River in New Brunswick, and the Terra Nova River in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Kristen Noel, the communication representative for the federation, said that they searched for rivers with self-sustaining salmon populations, free of environmental threats such as invasive fish species and man-made structures like dams. Most importantly, they looked for rivers with an active community involved in fishing and conservation efforts.

"We're looking at watersheds that have active salmon fisheries so that we can have stewards out on the water," Noel said.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/salmon-federation-terra-nova-1.6948681

[Woolly Bugger]

N.S. to protect 684 hectares of wilderness, lake eyed by mining company

A new wilderness area in Nova Scotia's Guysborough County will protect 300 hectares of old-growth forest as well as a lake that has been identified by a mining company as a water source for a proposed gold mine.

The Archibald Lake Wilderness Area will encompass 684 hectares of forest, wetland and three lakes that feed into a tributary of the St. Marys River, one of Nova Scotia's longest rivers.

The area also provides habitat for the endangered mainland moose and Canada warbler.

Greg Morrow, the province's agriculture minister and the MLA who represents the area, called it a "pristine natural gem" that "takes your breath away when you come to it."

Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/guysborough-county-archibald-lake-wilderness-area-1.6949475

[Woolly Bugger]

The $18M Project to Protect Endangered Trout


Local conservation group set to erect a new, 20-foot-high steel bridge over the Santa Margarita River to clear a path for steelhead


The low, concrete Sandia Creek Bridge over the Santa Margarita River isn't exactly guilty of murder. But it has the same effect on endangered Southern California steelhead living downstream as a mobster garroting a disloyal colleague with piano wire.

That's why people such as Mary Larson have spent the last 22 years buried in newspapers and microfiche archives, compiling evidence, like cold case detectives, to prove steelhead once flourished in places like the Santa Margarita. Confirm that, and the government will put money on the table to restore the river.

With the help of Larson and others like her, CalTrout—a conservation nonprofit dedicated to protecting California's watersheds—secured $18 million to erect a new, 20-foot-high steel bridge that clears a path for steelhead. Goodbye, low fish-blocking bridge. Hello, free-flowing Santa Margarita.

https://www.sandiegomagazine.com/features/river-trout-conservation-in-ca/article_5878505a-4694-11ee-9460-87037bcda9f6.html

[Woolly Bugger]

A little history lesson.

In 1948, researchers try to collect old songs of the Cariboo
Plus the annual Steelhead Derby gets set to start in Spences Bridge

https://www.ashcroftcachecreekjournal.com/community/in-1948-researchers-try-to-collect-old-songs-of-the-cariboo/

Guests are not allowed to view images in posts, please Register or Login


Steelhead fishermen on the Thompson River — possibly at Goldpan — in 1967.

Look at that catch...!!!

[Woolly Bugger]

Salmon are returning to Europe's Rhine River, but they still have one key barrier

The Rhine used to be home to a huge population of Atlantic salmon, which made their way all the way up to Switzerland to lay their eggs. Since the 1950s, construction of hydropower facilities has stopped the salmon migration, and now the species is all but eliminated from the Rhine. A decades-long plan to restore the salmon and their migration route along the Rhine is almost complete. But as Emily Haavik reports from Basil, Switzerland, there's one key juncture at a dam in France, where the salmon's passage has not been figured out yet.


Listen to the story here: https://theworld.org/media/2023-09-05/salmon-are-returning-europe-s-rhine-river-they-still-have-one-key-barrier

[Woolly Bugger]

More wild Atlantic salmon found in U.S. rivers than any time in the past decade, officials say



The last wild Atlantic salmon that return to U.S. rivers have had their most productive year in more than a decade, raising hopes they may be weathering myriad ecological threats.

Officials counted more than 1,500 of the salmon in the Penobscot River, which is home to the country's largest run of Atlantic salmon, Maine state data show. That is the most since 2011 when researchers counted about 2,900 of them.

The salmon were once abundant in American rivers, but factors such as overfishing, loss of habitat and pollution reduced their populations to only a handful of rivers in Maine. The fish are protected by the Endangered Species Act, and sometimes only a few hundred of them return from the ocean to the rivers in a year.

https://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/nation/more-wild-atlantic-salmon-found-in-u-s-rivers-than-any-time-in-the-past-decade-officials-say/

[Woolly Bugger]

Fish farm escapes must stop, say Atlantic conservationists

Salmon conservationists are in a fish flap with the aquaculture industry, accusing the sector of allowing farmed salmon to escape and endanger the last remaining wild stock in the Bay of Fundy between New Brunswick and Nova Scotia

But the fish farmers association has shot back, saying the group hasn't proven the salmon are from the industry's sea pens, despite recent seal attacks that ripped holes in an aquaculture firm's nets.

Wild Atlantic salmon are an iconic species, long heralded by anglers and considered sacred to Indigenous communities.

The Atlantic Salmon Federation (ASF) announced last week it had removed 46 escaped aquaculture salmon from the Magaguadavic River fishway in southwest New Brunswick since Aug. 1, including 10 large fish captured Tuesday, Sept. 5.

The industry has acknowledged hungry seals recently attacked the netting in the sea pens nearby, in which the farmed fish are fattened up. But it also argues the federation is leaping to conclusions.

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/fish-farm-escapes-must-stop-164855149.html

[Woolly Bugger]

[Woolly Bugger]

[Woolly Bugger]

Battle against extinction: Yakima's drive to restore steelhead and salmon population with $2 million funding boost

Yakima offers a variety of fishing opportunities, but some fish are on the verge of extinction and bringing those numbers back seems to be an upstream battle.

Over the last few years, conservation officials say we've been down to pretty low runs for steelhead trout.

"We figure once we would've had in the 10-50,000 steelhead throughout the Yakima Basin - they got down to where there were less than 500 coming back," said Alex Conley, the executive director of the Yakima Basin Fish and Wildlife Recovery Board.

Part of that is due to what's going on in the ocean and Columbia River, but the other issues are right here in our basin.

https://kimatv.com/news/local/battle-against-extinction-yakimas-drive-to-restore-steelhead-and-salmon-population-with-2-million-funding-boost

[Woolly Bugger]

Trout Unlimited Applauds Saranac River Salmon Restoration Efforts
The Lake Champlain Chapter of Trout Unlimited is applauding the removal of the two dams on the Lower Saranac River, saying that once a new fish ladder is installed downstream at the Imperial Mills Dam in Plattsburgh, Atlantic Salmon will be able to swim their way upstream to their native spawning grounds for the first time in centuries. Bill Wellman & Don Lee with Trout Unlimited join us to talk about how this could potentially help boost the native Atlantic Salmon population in the Saranac River and Lake Champlain.

https://mountainlake.org/trout-unlimited-applauds-saranac-river-salmon-restoration-efforts/