June 1, 2020 By Nancy Lord Hakai Magazine
The endangered beluga whales living in Alaska’s Cook Inlet are still declining in number, despite protections put in place 20 years ago and the adoption of a recovery plan in 2016. The latest population estimate—released in January, based on a survey from June 2018—is only 279 animals, down from 328 just two years before. The federal agency in charge of whale management, the National Marine Fisheries Service, has called the trend “concerning.”
May 29, 2020 By Juliet Eilperin and Brady Dennis The Washington Post
A top official at the Environmental Protection Agency informed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Alaska late Thursday that the EPA would not formally object at this point to the proposed Pebble Mine, a massive gold and copper deposit where mining could damage the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.
May 26, 2020 By Lynda Mapes Seattle Times
Today Columbia and Snake River salmon, and orcas that depend on them, are at risk of extinction. And Washington state regulators are taking a new regulatory role to chill fish-killing hot water at four dams in the lower Columbia, and four in the lower Snake.
May 25, 2020 By Nicola Jones Hakai Magazine
For those who have braved swimming in British Columbia’s spectacular, glacier-fed fjords, “warm” is probably not a word that springs to mind. But at least four of British Columbia’s fjords are real hotspots for climate change. Since the 1950s, they’ve warmed up to six times faster than the rest of the ocean, according to new data.
April 28, 2020 By Chloe Williams Hakai Magazine
Fish skin leather was once common in fishing communities; now artisans and designers are breathing new life into the tradition.