WFC recently filed a 60-day Notice of Intent to sue the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) for violations of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) associated with the agencies' evaluation of the harmful effects to threatened wild salmonids from commercial salmon farming in Puget Sound.
Did you know that there are eight Atlantic salmon net pen facilities in Puget Sound? Atlantic salmon farms pose an unacceptable health risk to ESA-listed wild salmon in Puget Sound. They pollute the nearby ecosystem and the crowded pens create an environment in which diseases, pathogens, and parasites can multiply and rapidly spread to wild fish. Learn More.

On Monday, September 28, Wild Fish Conservancy and the Center for Environmental Law & Policy (CELP) filed legal action to compel the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) to clean up the Leavenworth National Fish Hatchery now polluting Icicle Creek. FWS is discharging pollutants into Icicle Creek from the federal hatchery located near Leavenworth, WA, without a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit.  Despite repeated encouragement over years to update the federal hatchery, including a 60-day notice filed in July, federal officials have continued to operate the facility in violation of the federal Clean Water Act. Learn More.

Once regarded as "the most murderous and iniquitous instrumentalities ever devised to destroy natural life," fish traps will be given a second chance in 2016. Although fish traps were commonly blamed for the decimation of Washington State's salmon populations and the monopolization of salmon fisheries by the canning industry in the early 20th century, nearly eighty years after the fixed-gear ban of 1934, fish traps may once again prove their worth to fisheries of the Pacific Northwest-this time, as tools for sustainable fisheries and the conservation of threatened and endangered wild fish. Readers may be wondering at this point, "How can commercial fish traps ever play a role in promoting sustainability and the recovery of Washington's imperiled wild fish?" Learn More.

Earlier this year, Wild Fish Conservancy field crews geared up for an extensive water typing survey on Woods Creek, a tributary to the Skykomish River near Monroe in Snohomish County, WA. From early March to late June, our field crews surveyed many of the small streams feeding into the Woods Creek basin, identifying their classification and describing fish species composition and distribution. The crews collected more than 900 data points, each with numerous photos and a unique description of the stream's habitat, flora, and fauna. The information gathered is now being digitized into a database that will be added to our geographic information system (GIS). When finalized later this year, WFC will provide the project results to state and local government resource managers so they can make better-informed decisions to protect sensitive stream habitats. Learn More.