State places voluntary 'no-go' zone along western San Juan Island to protect orcas

State places voluntary 'no-go' zone along western San Juan Island to protect orcas

OLYMPIA, Wash. --  State fish and wildlife managers are asking boaters to avoid an area along the west side of San Juan Island in an effort to protect a dwindling population of Southern Resident killer whales.Despite state and federal government protection, the population of Southern Resident killer whales has declined from 98 whales in 1995 to just 76 in December 2017.The state said major threats to the whales include a lack of chinook salmon,  disturbance from vessel traffic and increased noise, and toxic contaminants."The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will be working with partner agencies and stakeholder groups to help educate people about the voluntary 'no-go' zone, which applies to all recreational boats – fishing or otherwise – as well as commercial vessels, the department said.The no-go zone is located on the west side of San Juan Island, including:

Raising millions of salmon to help feed our Southern Resident orcas

Raising millions of salmon to help feed our Southern Resident orcas

PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. -- A light rain is falling onto the Clear Creek Fish Hatchery, as a noisy trailer parked between two concrete holding ponds sends sounds into the forested landscape on JBLM land.The chinook salmon being raised here might hold the key to keeping our resident orcas in the Puget Sound for generations to come.

King salmon limits cut on coast, but some anglers see opportunities

King salmon limits cut on coast, but some anglers see opportunities

SEATTLE -- On the surface, the news from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is not good.Low returns of chinook and coho salmon are expected for the 2018 salmon fishing season.Warm waters, flooding rivers and habitat loss have cut the number of salmon returning to the state's waterways.

Survive The Sound: How to join our team!

Survive The Sound: How to join our team!

It’s tough in Puget Sound for steelhead. Just how tough? Join our team and play along with us as we watch our fish (Sam Q Newsfish) navigate predators, disease and pollution in his 12-day migratory race to survive Puget Sound.

Federal appeals court OKs boosting water spill to aid salmon, steelhead at Northwest dams

Federal appeals court OKs boosting water spill to aid salmon, steelhead at Northwest dams

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A U.S. appeals court on Monday affirmed an order to spill more water over Columbia and Snake river dams to help protect salmon and steelhead and aid their migration to the sea.The decision came after U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon of Oregon ruled last spring that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers must spill more water through spillways rather than turbines that pose a danger to the fish.He sided with conservationists who say allowing extra water to flow between April and mid-June will help young salmon.The Army Corps, National Marine Fisheries Service and another federal agency appealed Simon's ruling.A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Monday that Simon rightly concluded that the salmon and steelhead are imperiled and will remain so without further conservation efforts.The judges also pointed to decades of studies that show higher spill volumes lead to increased survival rates."At best, federal defendants establish uncertainty about the benefits of increased spill, but the existence of scientific uncertainty does not render the district court's findings clearly erroneous," Chief Judge Sidney Thomas wrote in the opinion.The new spill operations are set to begin Tuesday at some dams on the Snake River and next week on some dams in the Columbia, one of the largest rivers in North America.

One of Washington's most iconic bridges may be hurting salmon

One of Washington's most iconic bridges may be hurting salmon

PORT LUDLOW, Wash. -- The tourist slogan for the Olympic Peninsula is "the Wild Side of Washington."But one of the main transportation thoroughfares connecting travelers in Seattle to the famous towns and sites of the Olympic Peninsula may be hurting one of the Northwest's most famous residents: Salmon.

Sport-fisherman spawns non-profit to protect salmon in Puget Sound

Sport-fisherman spawns non-profit to protect salmon in Puget Sound

SEATTLE - Jacques White runs a non-profit called Long Live the Kings which was started more than three decades to restore wild salmon.He told Q13 News' Alex Lewis that initial efforts started on Orcas Island, where the group’s founder developed his own backyard Chinook hatchery.Since then, Long Live the Kings has lead hatchery programs that aim to bring steelhead and salmon back from the brink of extinction while providing fishing opportunities for anglers and Orcas.