Wildlife & Endangered Species

More than two years after the 2015-16 Dungeness and rock crab seasons in California was marred by toxic algae blooms, the federal government this week has allocated $25.8M in disaster funds to relieve fishermen and businesses affected by the closure. The Yurok Tribe was also allocated nearly $4M in disaster relief for its 2016 commercial salmon season, which was closed due to low numbers of returning spawners.

The project’s purpose is to determine if the addition of nitrogen can stimulate plankton (fish food organisms) production in a section of the ship channel, which is isolated from the Delta in terms of water flow. The project is an initial step in a broader effort to determine if, through the repair of the West Sacramento lock system, flows from the Sacramento River could be used to move fish food organisms through the Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel to the Delta in order to benefit delta smelt and the Bay-Delta System.

A long-burning fuse reached salmon dynamite Sunday morning. The opening of the sport salmon season detonated with wide-open fishing mayhem and limit catches out of the Golden Gate. New state and federal regulations had delayed the opener for months.

David Inouye is an accidental climate scientist. More than 40 years ago, the University of Maryland biologist started studying when wildflowers, birds, bees and butterflies first appeared each spring on this mountain.

In the decades since President George H.W. Bush pledged a goal of “no net loss” of U.S. wetlands, this uniquely American mix of conservation and capitalism has been supported by every president since then, growing the market for wetlands mitigation credits from about 40 banks in the early 1990s to nearly 1,500 today. Investors include Chevron and Wall Street firms, working alongside the Audubon Society and other environmental groups. Now the market is at risk.

A coalition of environmental and fishing groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday against the state of Oregon, alleging logging in the state’s two largest forests is threatening the survival of coho salmon that breed in streams flowing through the coastal region.

With the proposed Interlake Tunnel project’s future in the balance, Monterey County officials are hopeful they have resolved a key obstacle standing in the way involving the white bass. But it’s going to cost plenty.