HONOLULU (AP) - The Coast Guard says it removed four tons of debris from Kure Atoll in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. The cutter Kukui used two small boats to transport 36 loads, or four tons, from the atoll over three days. Endangered Hawaiian monk seals and threatened sea turtles can get entangled and killed in abandoned fishing nets. Sea birds mistake plastic for food. Cynthia Vanderlip manages the state of Hawaii's Kure Atoll Wildlife Sanctuary. She says state and federal officers rescued seven Hawaiian monk seals, five black-footed albatross, and a tern from entanglement at Kure in the past two years. The Coast Guard says it routinely removes debris in the Pacific as part of its commitment to marine environmental protection.

KALISPELL, Mont. (AP) - Workers at the Flathead Lake Salmon Hatchery have gathered about 3 million eggs from Kokanee salmon in Lake Mary Ronan. The eggs will help the hatchery supply 1.2 million two-inch kokanee to waters in western Montana as well as eggs to other hatcheries, such as the Big Springs Trout Hatchery in Lewistown. Hatchery manager Mark Kornick says last year's efforts gathered 1.6 million eggs. The hatchery is managed by the state Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks. Kokanee salmon are a landlocked version of Pacific sockeye salmon and typically spawn in October and November in western Montana.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) - Biologists are working on a ramp for fish to help them migrate through South Boulder Creek the way they did before the creek was dammed. The city of Boulder is installing a fish passage at the McGinn Ditch diversion on South Boulder Creek. The fish passage is like a ramp for swimmers, giving them a low-angle concrete passage and rocks so they can migrate. Fish passages help restore swimmers hurt by dams, which block natural migration patterns and have been blamed for keeping some species from spawning. The Daily Camera reports that the passage at McGinn dam will remove the last barrier connecting Boulder Creek to South Boulder Creek to Eldorado Springs.

GOLD BEACH, Ore. (AP) - Biologists are surveying the fall chinook salmon harvest on the Elk River near the Oregon coast to help determine how ocean harvest affects the number of fish returning to the river to spawn. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife surveys will take place from the mouth up to Elk Creek Hatchery through December. Elk River fall chinook salmon are an important Oregon sport fishery with about 4,000 caught each year off Port Orford. Another 2,000 to 3,000 are harvested annually in the Elk River. Fall chinook salmon from the Elk River are often caught off the coast of Canada as they migrate in the ocean. The survey will help make sure the Pacific Salmon Treaty between Canada and the United States is allocating salmon fairly between the two countries.