Sockeye Salmon Come Back to Oregon's Columbia River in Record Numbers

Posted on: Thursday, 24 July 2008, 18:00 CDT By Scott Learn, The Oregonian, Portland, Ore. Jul. 24--One of the great fish surprises in years has landed in the Northwest: Sockeye salmon, an ocean-going species that starts and ends its life hundreds of river miles inland, have swum their way up the Columbia River this summer in numbers unseen in five decades. No one knows exactly why. Some say it's because federal courts ordered the release of extra water over dams in 2006 and 2007 to make passage easier when the fish were young and migrating to sea. Others cite improved ocean conditions. The undisputed fact: Sockeye salmon runs have hit historic, post-dam-construction highs this summer in the Columbia and Snake rivers, an unexpected positive sign for a species close to being written off in parts of the Northwest's largest... [read full story]