Ritchie Graves, a NOAA Fisheries Service biologist who makes sure federally owned dams are living up to their Endangered Species Act obligations not to kill too many salmon, said the survival rate for young salmon swimming downstream to the ocean has been higher than ever the past three years, hitting about 50 percent for sockeye.
Meanwhile, the House Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans began hearings Tuesday on the effectiveness of the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act to evaluate what changes should be enacted during this year's reauthorization.