Columbia Basin Bulletin - August 20, 2025

Coho Urban Runoff Mortality Syndrome Research Finding, Council Gets Latest Numbers on Managing Avian Salmonid Predation, European Green Crab 2025 Field Season Update... and more

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Columbia Basin Bulletin
August 20, 2025

For years, scientists at Washington State University’s Puyallup Research & Extension Center have been working to untangle a mystery: Why do coho salmon in Puget Sound creeks seem to suffocate after rainstorms — rising to the surface, gaping, and swimming in circles before dying?

Predation by sea birds on salmon and steelhead smolts in some years is responsible for as much as 50 percent of all smolt mortalities during the outmigration to the sea from the Columbia and Snake river basins, according to a presentation this week at a meeting of the Northwest Power and Conservation Council.

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.

Collaborative Success: State, Tribes, College Build Hatchery Program Leading To Record Chinook Salmon Return To Creek

More than 7,000 Chinook salmon are expected to return to Whatcom Creek in downtown Bellingham, Washington this season thanks to an ongoing collaboration between Bellingham Technical College, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission, and the Lummi Nation and Nooksack Indian Tribe.

For many reasons, 2023 was the “Holy Grail Year” for Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks’ pallid sturgeon recovery efforts in the Yellowstone River drainage. That’s fisheries manager Mike Backes’ term for it. Fisheries crews were able to validate the spawning of two wild heritage females with a wild heritage male and an unknown male in the Tongue River after capturing larvae that matched the parental genetics from three of the fish.

At July’s Northwest Power and Council meeting in Portland, staff from the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee discussed a new 10-year outlook they’ve produced showing regional utilities’ forecasted electricity demand and planned resources.

The Bonneville Power Administration says its third quarter financial report indicates the agency’s fiscal position remains positive. Despite seeing some decline in positive net revenues and end-of-year days cash on hand since the second quarter forecast, the agency “continues to see encouraging key performance indicators for its finances.”

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced the next round of Wildlife Diversity Grant recipients, awarding approximately $1 million in funding for the next two years. This investment supports eight collaborative projects focused on some of Washington’s most at-risk wildlife species.