Climate change has potential negative implications for the current and future status of ESA-listed fish in the Pacific Northwest including bull trout, salmon, and steelhead. Scientists have documented that air temperatures have risen in the Pacific Northwest and predict that they will continue to rise by 0.1°-0.6°C every decade over the next century.
Related to the air temperature changes, scientists are predicting several changes that will affect fish, including warmer stream and river water temperatures and changes to the timing and amount of seasonal rain and snowfall. These changed conditions may affect the availability of tributary spawning and rearing habitat for all native fish and changes to the timing of when salmon fry hatch and as smolts begin their migration to the ocean.
All of the Columbia Basin Federal Caucus agencies are using climate change predictions to develop strategies that address long-term resiliency for habitats and native fishes within the Basin, based on the individual agency’s legal and regulatory mission.