The New York Timesreports on salmon scarcity in the Columbia River system. Here’s the crux:
The collapse in the numbers is so bad that Idaho, Oregon and Washington have ended commercial fishing, and last week the four Indian tribes with treaty rights to harvest the salmon did the same.
The low numbers of spring Chinook have been blamed on everything from marine mammal predation, to unusual ocean conditions, to a disruption somewhere in the lifecycle chain. Personally, I can’t help wondering whether it might have something to do with those 14 giant concrete barriers in the river.
Meanwhile, on the Canadian West Coast, a new report from the David Suzuki Foundation on logging plans near salmon streams is creating quite a stir. Here’s what the Prince Rupert Daily Newshas to say:
The scientific community is gasping in horror at the results of a new report from the David Suzuki Foundation that shows cut block by cut block how forestry companies are targeting areas around salmon bearing streams on B.C.’s North and Central coasts.
The worst part about the story in British Columbia is that forest companies no longer have to make their logging plans public. So figuring out what those plans are and surveying the landscape is a monstrously difficult task.
