Acknowledging that their old way of doing things didn't seem to be working anymore, Columbia Basin harvest managers blended the results from seven different harvest models and have come up with 470,000 springers (to river mouth) as their preseason estimate of next year's upriver spring chinook run. That would be the largest run since 1938, surpassing the 430,000-fish return in 2001. ...more

In late November, federal agencies were pleasantly surprised at the reception the latest additions to their Columbia Basin ESA salmon plan received in U.S. District Judge James Redden's courtroom. The judge told federal officials at a Nov. 23 hearing that it was a great move take the hydro BiOp back to Washington and work on it. ...more

With less than a week before they squared off in his courtroom, U.S. District Judge James Redden was still trying to get federal agencies and environmental and fishing groups to agree on a plan to manage the Columbia River for the next 10 years. ...more

This year's annual research review sponsored by the Corps of Engineers came up with few surprises, but added support for more fish barging on the Snake River, a position that has the feds' policy at odds with a federal judge and environmental groups. ...more

Despite a program to move some salmon-munching terns away from the mouth of the Columbia, researchers say tern and cormorant populations are still growing there, and they've got the evidence to prove it. ...more

A new report from NOAA Fisheries has raised some questions over the use of acoustic tags to measure survival of juvenile fish. ...more