Chinook Archives - Northwest Public Broadcasting

Wildlife Managers To Northwest Seals And Sea Lions: Stop Eating So Much Salmon … Or Else

By Tom Banse April 12, 2019

Sea lions have been eating steelhead and other fish at Willamette Falls in ever greater numbers.Photo courtesy of ODFW

Politicians and wildlife managers are engaged in a fresh debate about whether to intervene in nature to save an imperiled species. The question is whether humans can get seals and sea lions to lay off Chinook salmon so there's more for killer whales to eat.Read More

Chinook Nation Moves Closer to Federal Recognition As Judge Advances Claim

By Molly Solomon June 21, 2018

The Chinook Indian Nation gather outside a federal courthouse in Tacoma to rally support for federal recognition. CREDIT: MOLLY SOLOMAN - OPB

A U.S. District Court judge in Tacoma has ruled that seven of eight claims brought by the Chinook Indian Nation will move forward. It’s a victory for the tribe, which has been fighting for recognition for more than a century.Read More

Chinook Tribe Has Its Day In Court, But Still Faces Long Road To Recognition

By Molly Solomon May 9, 2018

The Chinook Indian Nation gather outside a federal courthouse in Tacoma to rally support for federal recognition. CREDIT: MOLLY SOLOMON

The Chinook Indian Nation is taking its fight for federal recognition into the courtroom. U.S. District Court Judge Ronald B. Leighton heard oral arguments and will take the next two weeks to decide if the case moves forward. Read More

Three Things You Should Know About Chinook Salmon, Key To Orca Survival

By Max Bartlett March 22, 2018

A young resident killer whale chasing a Chinook salmon near Vancouver Island. Image obtained from a small drone that was flown more than 100 feet above the whales for research under NMFS permit #19091.

Orcas survive largely on a single food source: Chinook salmon migrating from Northwest rivers. As Chinook populations have declined, orcas have struggled to find enough to eat.Read More

This Is Why You Don’t See People-Sized Salmon Anymore

By John Ryan March 2, 2018

Fisherman Tony Canessa with an 85-pound chinook he caught near Astoria, Oregon, in 1925. CREDIT: U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE

While the orcas of Puget Sound are sliding toward extinction, orcas farther north have been expanding their numbers. Their burgeoning hunger for big fish may be causing the killer whales’ main prey, chinook salmon, to shrink up and down the West Coast.Read More