Environment - Page 16

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission, citing concerns over sustainability, voted unanimously Friday to prohibit independently operated light boats to help catch market squid off the Oregon coast. The unanimous vote, which met with both support and criticism from fishing interests, takes effect immediately. The lights, used for night fishing, transfix the small, fist-sized squid, which

BY DANA TIMS/YachatsNews An influential group charged with helping manage West Coast fisheries is asking the federal government to completely start over with plans for floating offshore wind energy development.  The Pacific Fishery Management Council, meeting recently in Seattle, cited fishing sustainability concerns in approving a resolution asking that two “call areas” already approved off the southern Oregon coast be

By ALANNA MADDON/Courthouse News Service An extremely low “abundance” of California Chinook salmon stocks and projected low spawning escapements has led to the cancellation of the upcoming commercial and recreational salmon fishing season along much of the Oregon coast. The announcement Thursday came in two parts from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, with both actions canceling fishing seasons

By DINO GRANDOI/The Washington Post NEWPORT — In an old industrial warehouse, Tiffany Rudek leans into a chest-high tank. Using a laminated card, she gently pries a red-speckled sea star from the enclosure’s bright blue walls. The starfish was reluctant, clinging with its tiny, tubular feet. “It’s delicate to move them,” said Rudek, an aquarist at the Oregon Coast Aquarium.

By UO Communications/OSU News Service Your average sunflower sea star can munch through almost five purple sea urchins in a week, and they don’t seem to be picky about the quality of their food. That’s good news — and valuable data — for efforts to reintroduce these now-endangered predators to coastal ecosystems along the west coast of North America.

A meeting scheduled Tuesday afternoon to discuss the future of Lincoln County’s Don Lindly Park in Tidewater has been postponed for two weeks. County parks and the Oregon State Marine Board scheduled the meeting to gather public input on a redesign for a boat launch and parking lot planned for the largely undeveloped park along the Alsea River at about

By SEAN NEALON/OSU News Service While microplastics have received significant attention in recent years for their negative environmental impacts, a new study from Oregon State University scientists found microfibers from synthetic materials as well as cotton impacted the behavior and growth of water organisms. “We’re trying to shift the narrative a little bit because so much of the focus

By MICHELLE KLAMPE/OSU News Service Six years ago beachgoers up and down the Oregon, Washington and northern California coasts were surprised by “sneaker” waves that inundated beaches, caused injuries and swamped a vehicle. Across Oregon, Washington and northern California, extreme sneaker wave events contribute to about two drowning deaths each year. The waves over a five-hour period Jan. 16,

By DANA TIMS/YachatsNews NEWPORT – Does anyone have an octopus? The visitors center at the Hatfield Marine Science Center needs a new one and is asking the public – especially the hundreds of boats out scouring coastal waters for Dungeness crab – to help. “This is the way we have typically received octopus donations in the past,” said Renee

By ZACH URNESS/Salem Statesman Journal The Center for Biological Diversity wants the federal government to get moving on a plan to reintroduce sea otters on the Oregon coast. The national environmental group submitted a petition Thursday, under the Endangered Species Act, to reintroduce the sea otter to their native habitat from the San Francisco through Oregon. The idea of returning otters