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Commentaries and editorials

Terns Hurt Salmon Recovery

by Eric Johnson
Spokesman Review, June 6, 2019

(STEVE RINGMAN / THE SEATTLE TIMES) With a baby salmon in its mouth, a Caspian tern flies over the colony on the east end of East Sand Island near the mouth of the Columbia River. Three or five years ago, in the prior activist round of trying to remove/bypass the Snake River dams, there were also reports on the activities of the Caspian terns and other birds at the mouth of the Columbia River, which devour thousands and thousands of salmon and steelhead smolts before they ever reach the ocean.

The terns (are they native to the region - their name suggests not) are a protected species, as are the salmon, so which is more important in deciding the trade-off?

Are there any current scientific studies on the current effects of the tern, which officials were trying without much success to relocate away from the river?

Keep up the good work.

Related Pages:
Less Nesting Habitat Has Led to Higher Nesting Density for Salmonid-Eating Caspian Terns by Staff, Columbia Basin Bulletin, 3/13/15
Killing Cormorants Not Improving Steelhead Survival Rates by Laura Berg, NW Fishletter, 6/6/16
Oregon: Federal Plan to Save Salmon by Killing Birds Backfired by Karina Brown, Courthouse News Service, 2/5/19


Eric Johnson, Spokane
Terns Hurt Salmon Recovery
Spokesman Review, June 6, 2019

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