In federal court, a collection of conservation groups has challenged the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service’s Shasta River safe harbor program, which the groups say will not recover coho.
The coalition argues the service violated the Endangered Species Act by allowing a dam owner and water diverters to harm threatened coho salmon through “enhancement of survival permits evaluated under unlawful and scientifically incorrect biological opinions.”
Bill Chesney, retired California Department of Fish and Wildlife fisheries biologist and Friends of the Shasta River board member, said, “Agencies first need to recommend and implement science-based flow and temperature standards sufficient to recover coho in the Shasta River.”
