A lot of recent Oregon Fishery news out there.
First, "fish friendly hydro" is all the rage out here in Cascadia. The latest news comes from RenewableEnergyAccess.com, with an article touting the benefits of Oregon's Pelton Round Butte Hydro Project on the Deschutes River, operated by Portland General Electric Company (PGE) and the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs (CTWS). The project was certified by the Low Impact Hydropower Institute (LIHI) for fish passage measures, including a claim of 96%survival rate for downstream migrating fish. It seems pretty interesting, but I haven't seen any independent info on these LIHI people. Are they just the marketing arm of the hydro industry? Something much more positive? Who knows? I checked out Trout Unlimited to see if they had any info about them, but the site is impossible to navigate.
I can bash TU's Web site all I want, but they are doing something interesting with the new "Why Wild" campaign for getting people to eat wild salmon. Go on over and sign the Wild Salmon Bill of Rights. They can explain why eating wild salmon might be the best thing that could happen to this struggling fishery.
Lastly, Oregon State University scientists have produced a study that shows commercial trawling is destroying biodiversity off the Oregon Coast's Continental Shelf. But not enough to make anyone want to stop it. According to the AP story, areas showing roller tracks in the mud from bottom trawling nets had 20% fewer fish, 30% fewer species of fish and six times fewer invertebrates, such as crabs and seapens.
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