California’s water agency today released a long-awaited environmental report outlining the details and impacts of a controversial proposal to replumb the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta and pump more water south. In the report, state officials said the tunnel project could harm endangered and threatened species, including the Delta smelt, winter-run chinook salmon and steelhead trout. To […]
Steelhead
Posted inLetters + Opinion
Views: Klamath Basin Dam Removal Needs a Science-Driven Oversight Plan
The Klamath Basin is on the cusp of the most ambitious dam removal effort ever attempted. If all goes to plan, efforts will get underway by next year to bring down the four aging hydropower dams that divide the basin in half. Are we ready for this? The ramifications of this dam removal effort are […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Releases on the Trinity River to Significant Increase Flow This Week
Restoration flows will begin tomorrow, April 16, on the Trinity River to help improve conditions after another critically dry water year. A flow schedule based on the expected amount of water available to support salmon restoration efforts on the Trinity River is brought forward by the Trinity Management Council each year. This week’s two-day schedule […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Steelhead Season Yet to Take Off
The transition to steelhead season is taking a bit longer than we had hoped. To date, steelhead fishing has yet to really take off on popular rivers like the Smith and Chetco. The lower Eel also has yet to see big numbers of steelhead. The lone bright spot has been the Mad River. It’s probably […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Storms Should Keep the Steelhead Coming
Following a weekend that saw slightly less rain than predicted, conditions on our steelhead rivers are starting to improve. Storms impacting our coast one after the other are what’s really needed to kick off the winter steelhead run, and that looks to be the case through the weekend. A good soaking is forecast for Wednesday […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
Winter Steelhead Up Next for Coastal Rivers
With no rain in the forecast for at least the next 10 days, the end is in plain view for the late, fall-run salmon season on the North Coast. The Chetco saw a few good days of fishing but the Smith was somewhat of a disappointment. The rains, along with the runs of salmon, were […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
California Halibut Still Biting
The lack of rain isn’t doing the run of late-fall kings any favors but it is keeping the California halibut fishery alive. Without an influx of freshwater from the rains and with enough food to keep them happy, there’s no reason for the halibut to leave. Though the effort has dwindled, there are still enough […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Harbor District Approves Lease for Massive Fish Farm
The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District today approved a 30-year lease with Norwegian company Nordic Aquafarms to build a massive fish farm at the former pulp mill after hearing concerns the deal was ushered through without public review. The plan is to build a land-based aquaculture facility that would eventually produce some 25,000 […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
TL;DR: Five Things You Need to Know About This Week’s Cover Story
Busy week? We get it, and we’re not judging. Here are some highlights from “Until the Sun Sets” to get you caught up. On April 6, federal, state and tribal officials descended on Yurok Tribal land to ink a new pact to remove four hydroelectric dams that have choked the Klamath River for decades. It […]
Posted inNews (NCJ)
Stream-sucking Grows Busted
Two busts east of Garberville yesterday turned up just the kind of ecological havoc that’s been infuriating environmentalists and getting the attention of our Congressman. Along with the usual guns, greenhouses and greenbacks ($198,000 at one property) Fish and Wildlife say they found pumps draining Mattole Canyon Creek, sucking up salmon and steelhead smolt, and […]