Low returns of Spring Chinook raise concern
(WorldNews Environment)

Historically, spring chinook have returned to the South Umpqua River by the thousands, spending time in deep, cool pools in the summer before spawning in the fall. Greg Huchko with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said his department has been doing snorkel counts of the species for the past 40 years. This year they counted 28 fish that had returned to their natal pools - the second lowest since the department started recording the numbers. `Obviously it´s been a red flag for us,` Huchko said. Loss of spawning habitat, warming river temperatures, predation and ocean acidification are all contributing to their decline. Huchko said ODFW would like to see the population around 600,...