The decline, the report says, is due to marine conditions that have been mixed and trending downwards since 2023, including adverse upwelling patterns and copepod community structure.
Many years ago, people built a dead end where two rivers met — and blocked an ancient pathway for migrating salmon and steelhead.
Washington is predicting a huge run of pink salmon into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Puget Sound this year and is encouraging anglers to take advantage of the run while they are there. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is forecasting a run of pinks of nearly 7.8 million, up 70 percent over the 10-year average.
European green crabs were first discovered in Washington state in 1998 in Willapa Bay, where they remained in small numbers for over a decade. The green crabs were first documented in Washington’s inland waters in the San Juan Islands in 2016.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is seeking public input on a draft periodic status review for the marbled murrelet, which includes a recommendation to keep the bird on the state endangered species list.
New Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife research sheds light on the link between a changing climate and ocean and ecosystem conditions; and winter steelhead survival on the Washington coast.
The 2025 Northern Pikeminnow Sport-Reward Fishery opened May 1, offering anglers the chance to earn cash while helping protect vulnerable salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake rivers. The fishery will be open daily through Sept. 30 at most locations.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife will hold a virtual public meeting on April 1, from 6–8 p.m., to discuss potential harvest management strategies for Lower Columbia River tributary fisheries.
A recent study brings to light the dangers of a little-known life stage in which spring Chinook salmon in the Columbia River basin generally incur high mortality – incubation in the gravel.
Two tugboats infested with quagga and zebra mussels were intercepted last month at the Spokane watercraft inspection station.
Expecting a slightly smaller run of eulachon (smelt) into the mainstem Columbia River this year than last year – about 8.6 million pounds – the two-state Columbia River Compact adopted a limited three-day-a-week commercial gillnet test fishery. The decision allows gillnetters using small mesh nets to fish for the threatened species in Zones 1 to 3 (roughly from the Astoria Megler Bridge to Puget Island).
An epidemiological study found that 56% of a large breeding colony of Caspian terns died from a 2023 outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza at Rat Island in Washington state.
Oregon and Washington fishery managers set dates and harvest guidelines for recreational white sturgeon retention in pools backed up behind Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day dams.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that steelhead fishing will open in select areas of the Upper Columbia this month. This marks the first time in nine years that anglers can enjoy fishing for hatchery steelhead in these waters.
A lawsuit contending that lower Columbia River hatcheries downstream of Bonneville Dam are a threat to wild salmon and steelhead listed under the federal Endangered Species Act was settled in part last week.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and research partners documented white-nose syndrome and the fungus that causes white-nose syndrome in eleven new counties in 2024.
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