Salmon

Chinook salmon are spawning in streams above four former dam sites on the Klamath River in numbers that are astounding biologists. Now, a network of tribes, agencies, university researchers, and conservation groups is working together to track the fish as they explore the newly opened habitat.

Low counts of spawning salmon could mean another year without fishing. Experts say the outlook still has time to turn around.

Biologists from Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and The Klamath Tribes have discovered several salmon in a tributary of the Klamath River in Oregon, above the site of four dams that were removed earlier this year.

Siskiyou County ranchers who defied a state water order in 2022 were fined only about $50 each. Under new legislation headed to the governor, some daily fines for water scofflaws can increase 20-fold.

Now that two temporary cofferdams—one at Iron Gate dam; one at Copco 1—have been breached, the Klamath is running freely, and salmon will be able to access 420 miles of habitat that had been blocked by the dams.

The fire is moving into areas where salmon are waiting to spawn. Already in dire shape, experts worry that the Park Fire could be the deathblow to these fish.

A new report acknowledged the ongoing damage done by dams on the Columbia River. But that’s only part of the story.

Will the restoration of Klamath River runs help restore California’s struggling salmon fishing industry?

The money will be used for an aging dam on the Illinois River in southern Oregon and updating infrastructure to improve fish migration on the Wallowa River in the northeast of the state.

Researchers at Oregon State University say new discoveries about how some Chinook salmon breed could help guide conservation efforts.

By the end of the week, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife will have released 90,000 yearling coho as well as 400,000 Chinook salmon fry into the Klamath River.

Federal officials moved to cancel commercial and recreational salmon fishing off California as the fish still aren’t thriving.