Tag: Chinook

‘Bold actions’ to save Puget Sound salmon gain qualified support

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The Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council wants the opportunity to clarify the meaning of a new tribal proposal. By Christopher Dunagan, Puget Sound Institute Native American tribes in the Puget Sound region are calling for “bold actions” to reverse the decline of Puget Sound Chinook salmon, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Such actions would include: — Protecting all remaining salmon habitat in and around Puget Sound with more consistent and enforceable land-use regulations; — Preventing water uses that would limit salmon recovery; — Improving management of predators, […]

Finding a strategy to accelerate Chinook recovery

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New in Salish Sea Currents: We continue our series on Puget Sound’s EPA-funded Implementation Strategies. This week we take on Chinook recovery. As threatened Chinook populations continue to lose ground, the state is looking to new strategies to reverse the trend. In the Skagit watershed, the scientists — and the fish — are among those leading the way. Puget Sound-area writer Bob Friel reports from the newly-established Fir Island Farms Reserve where he witnessed the discovery of the very first Chinook to be found at that restoration project.

‘Bold actions’ to be discussed in a revised Chinook Implementation Strategy

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By Christopher Dunagan, Puget Sound Institute A desire to come up with “bold actions” for rebuilding Chinook salmon runs in Puget Sound has slowed approval of the first Chinook Implementation Strategy designed to accelerate recovery efforts for the threatened species. The Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council, which oversees salmon-related planning, was scheduled to adopt the Chinook Implementation Strategy at its March meeting. The strategy underwent 14 months of study, discussion and review, and council staffers said it was ready for approval. Before the meeting, however, representatives of Puget-Sound-area Indian tribes […]

Study of seals and sea lions gains interest

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Our story last week about the impacts of predators on Chinook salmon populations in Puget Sound continues to gather strong interest from our readers. Several thousand viewed it after it came out last Thursday, and it was reprinted in the Kitsap Sun on Monday. The story was written by PSI senior writer Christopher Dunagan and reports on a new study showing that area seals and sea lions are eating a much higher amount of threatened Chinook than previously known. Many questions still remain, but it is the first time that a peer-reviewed […]

Study says predators may play major role in Chinook salmon declines

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A new study shows that increased populations of seals and sea lions are eating far more of Puget Sound’s threatened Chinook than previously known, potentially hampering recovery efforts for both salmon and endangered killer whales. Read the story in Salish Sea Currents.

Contaminants higher in resident blackmouth Chinook

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Many of Puget Sound’s chinook salmon spend their entire lives in local waters and don’t migrate to the open ocean. These fish tend to collect more contaminants in their bodies because of the sound’s relatively high levels of pollution. Read the article in Salish Sea Currents.