Survive the Sound

The U.S. government on Tuesday acknowledged, for the first time, the harmful role it has played over the past century in building and operating dams in the Pacific Northwest — dams that devastated Native American tribes by inundating their villages and decimating salmon runs while bringing electricity, irrigation and jobs to nearby communities.

For 54 years, the city of Issaquah has turned the annual salmon migration into a community-wide festival of music, food, and fun. This year, there is extra reason to celebrate as the region’s fish population shows signs of a rebound.

Officials with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced a record-breaking surge in the Baker River sockeye salmon population.

The Biden administration on Wednesday announced nearly $200 million in federal infrastructure grants to upgrade tunnels that carry streams beneath roads but can be deadly to fish that get stuck trying to pass through.

Traffic officials are warning drivers who use US-101 between Clallam and Jefferson Counties to plan for an extra hour and a half of driving time for multiple construction projects through Friday. 

A federal regulatory group voted Thursday to officially close king salmon fishing season along much of the West Coast after near-record low numbers of the fish, also known as chinook, returned to California's rivers last year.

The Washington state Department of Natural Resources said Monday it will not renew a fish-farming company’s last remaining leases on net pens in Puget Sound.

The benefits provided by four giant hydroelectric dams on the Snake River must be replaced before the dams can be breached to save endangered salmon runs, according to a final report issued Thursday by Washington Gov. Jay Inslee and Washington U.S. Sen. Patty Murray.

The Biden administration on Tuesday released two reports arguing that removing dams on the lower Snake River may be needed to restore salmon runs to sustainable levels in the Pacific Northwest, and that replacing the energy created by the dams is possible but will cost $11 billion to $19 billion.

SeaTac Public Works released salmon, raised by the city, into the wild at Des Moines Creek Saturday. 

The Skokomish estuary was a far cry from its natural self in 2007, when the Skokomish Tribe began work to return the land to its natural use. More than a decade later, roads, culverts and dams have been removed, and salmon habitat is returning.

Hundreds of millions of dollars have gone into salmon recovery, and more work is needed. Now, scientists are asking the question: Could saving a smaller, less recognizable fish, be one of the keys to their recovery?

It started with a simple question: Why are salmon dying in the Salish Sea? The answer, as it turns out, would pull scientists from 60 organizations in a variety of directions.

After decades of research, it’s a statement that may shock you: “We really don’t know what’s going on out there.”