Originally Posted By: AuntyM
And just to stir the pot some more...

http://www.nwifc.org/newsinfo/documents/newsletters/2006_2_Summer.pdf page 6.

Steelhead have been slowly disappearing from the Nisqually River for at least the last decade and the Nisqually Indian Tribe wants to know why. “There is plenty of good habitat for steelhead in the Nisqually watershed, so we think they’re running into problems in saltwater,” said David Troutt, natural resources manager for the Nisqually Tribe.
“But, we don’t know that for sure.” Tribal and state co-managers would like to see about 2,000 steelhead return to spawn
every year to the Nisqually, but since 1993, fewer than 1,000 have come back. Decades ago, the Nisqually River had the strongest run of steelhead in Puget Sound; more than 6,000 would return every year. Nisqually River steelhead are part of a stock that is currently being considered for listing under the federal Endangered Species Act.
To help determine the cause for the steelhead’s decline, tribal researchers are tagging about 50 juvenile steelhead with acoustic transmitters as they head out to sea. The transmitters will allow the researchers to track the steelhead after they’ve left the river.
The tribe’s effort is part of the joint U.S. and Canadian Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Project. An array of acoustic receivers located throughout Puget Sound will track the fish as they begin their ocean migration. When a steelhead carrying an acoustic transmitter passes between a pair of receivers, its individual frequency is recorded and tracked for several hundred yards.
“This project will help us to narrow down where the steelhead could be running into trouble,” said Troutt. “With better information, we’ll have a better idea how to recover
these fish.” – E. O’Connell

I guess it's not so cut and dried as some would have us believe eh?



Nope, not in the least bit. This was brought up at the beginning of this thread. We know that there are issues associated with ocean survial at this point, and we know that netting is an issue, and we know that habitat is an issue along with hydro, etc... None of them are easy problems to tackle, it's just that habitat is something that we can do something about now, without having to deal with supreme court rulings. As a citizen we can vote, we can use our money and resources and time to help out. In the other cases. Additionally like I said before, habitat is something that needs to be done to ensure long term viability. It doesn't matter one wit if there isn't a net in the river or no dams on a stream. If there isn't reasonable habitat they won't make it \:\)

But thanks for the heads up on the Nisqually, it's good to have that info out in the open \:\)