Tippets: Mokelumne River Receives Wild and Scenic Status, Oregon Creates Steelhead Sanctuary, Climate Change Affecting Olfactory Systems of Fish

August 15, 2018 By: Erin Block

  • California’s Mokelumne River has recently been awarded the Wild and Scenic status. “The newly protected segments of the Mokelumne River represent an important recreational resource for residents of Amador and Calaveras counties and their tourism-based economies,” writes Steve Evans on NewsDeeply.
  • Areas of the lower Deschutes River and Columbia River have been temporarily closed to all fishing, including catch-and-release. “Biologists for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said the closure is intended to protect upriver-bound Columbia summer steelhead lingering in the Deschutes’ cooler water as the Columbia warms up in summer heat.” Via The Oregonian.
  • Climate change is affecting migration patterns and ranges of fish, and according to new research published in the journal Nature Climate Change, it is also affecting marine fishes’ sense of smell.  “A sense of smell is indispensable to fish,” writes Marlene Cimons. “They use it to find food, detect imminent danger and elude predators, to find safe environments and spawning areas, even to recognize one another.” Via EcoWatch.