Fishing in Southeast Alaska by the commercial troll-fishing fleet will not be cancelled this year, as ordered by a Seattle judge, thanks to a last-minute ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. Considerations for the economic damage that would be caused by shutting down the Alaskan fishery outweigh the “speculative environmental threats” that […]
June 15, 2023
"> Quantitative models, including Ecopath, take food web studies to a higher level of analysis
As part of a project exploring the technical uncertainties surrounding Puget Sound water quality, we are reviewing how computer models are used to advance our understanding of natural systems. This blog post is part of a series focused on different models and their uses within the Puget Sound ecosystem. The project is jointly sponsored by King […]
May 11, 2023
"> Shutdown looms for Alaska summer troll fishery; court order aims to provide more salmon for orcas
Southern Resident killer whales, which frequent Puget Sound, are expected to benefit from more Chinook salmon later this year, as expressed in a court order calling for the suspension of a major troll fishery in Southeast Alaska. Alaska state officials are dismayed by the ruling, saying that closing this commercial fishery would have a devastating […]
April 25, 2020
"> Warm-water ‘blobs’ significantly diminish salmon, other fish populations, study says
It’s no secret that salmon and other Northwest fish populations are expected to shrink as a result of a warming Pacific Ocean. But a new study suggests that the resulting decline in commercial fishing by 2050 could be twice as great as previously estimated by climate scientists. The higher estimates of population declines were calculated […]