Fish Traps Have Been Banned on the Columbia River for Nea...

What’s Happening

Not gonna lie, A new experiment is testing the commercial success of fish traps in Washington and Oregon.

Even as some conservationists embrace the technique, its return has reopened old wounds among local fishers Fish Traps Have Been Banned on the Columbia River for Nearly a Century. Could Bringing Them Back Help Save Salmon? (plot twist fr)

Modern fish traps require pilings that are driven into the riverbed and netting that reaches across part of a river.

The Details

Mac Holt Key takeaways: Fish traps on the Columbia Fish traps were used to catch salmon on the Columbia River for centuries, then adopted ultimately banned in Washington and Oregon. Some environmental groups have tested the traps impact on fish in hopes that the technology could return as a conservation tool.

Now, a new pilot program is assessing their economic potential for the first time. The reintroduction of fish traps has reignited their controversial history in the region.

Why This Matters

In the late summer of 1805, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s Corps of Discovery expedition came upon a camp of Shoshone Indians, who gifted the haggard explorers a meal that raised their spirits. “This was the first salmon I had seen and perfectly convinced me that we were on the waters of the Pacific Ocean,” Lewis journaled . He knew that Atlantic salmon moved between ocean and river, inhabiting both saltwater and freshwater environments.

This could have implications for future research in this area.

Key Takeaways

• The presence of salmon, he thought, surely indicated that he and his group were near their destination on the Pacific coast.
• What Lewis did not know was that those fish, caught in the Lemhi River in Idaho, had endured the longest migration of any salmon species on Earth .

The Bottom Line

What Lewis did not know was that those fish, caught in the Lemhi River in Idaho, had endured the longest migration of any salmon species on Earth . Certain sockeye salmon climb more than 6,500 feet as they swim from the Pacific upstream through the Columbia River and its tributaries, scaling waterfalls as tall as 20 feet to reach spawning grounds tucked in the snowcapped peaks of central Idaho.

Are you here for this or nah?