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The LEO Network is a worldwide network of observers and experts that share their observations of environmental change.
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Management of the Alta River criticized: 'It stinks everywhere'
Large numbers of post‑spawning pink salmon are rotting along the Alta River in Finnmark, causing strong odors and anger among anglers. Critics say the river lacked an effective trap in 2025, while managers and authorities cite technical challenges and are using netting and clean‑ups as interim measures.
Alta, Finnmark, Norway
NRK
Christina Gjertsen; André Bendixen; Iselin Bonesvoll

Researchers Are Using Catfish to Combat Sea Urchins
Researchers have relocated 20 Atlantic catfish to artificial kelp forest units in Melkøy Sound, Northern Norway, to test if reintroducing sea urchin predators can help restore kelp forests overgrazed by booming sea urchin populations.
Melkøy Sound, Troms og Finnmark, Norway
High North News

Gardeners, Academic at Odds on How to Best Deal with Growing Japanese Beetle Population
Japanese beetles are aggressively feeding on ornamental and edible plants in the Halifax area, prompting debate between experts who recommend labor-intensive hand removal and gardeners using pheromone traps that may attract more beetles.
Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada
CBC News

New Trap to Stop Pink Salmon in the Tana River
The Norwegian Veterinary Institute begins building a trap at Seida to sort out invasive pink salmon migrating up the Tana River.
Seida, Tana Municipality, Troms og Finnmark, Norway
NRK Troms og Finnmark

Kenai extends agreements for spruce tree mitigation
Kenai has extended agreements with state authorities to continue its spruce tree mitigation efforts, addressing trees affected by spruce beetles.
Kenai, Alaska, United States
Peninsula Clarion

US Fish and Wildlife Service takes action to combat the spread of invasive species in Bristol Bay
The South-central Invasive Species Strike Team is actively working in Bristol Bay to manage and control the spread of invasive species, such as Bird Vetch, which threaten local ecosystems essential for subsistence in Alaska.
Bristol Bay, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

She died from a tick-spread illness most Canadians have never heard of. Why more people could be at risk
The article discusses the rise in tick-borne illnesses in Canada, highlighting a case of Powassan virus and the challenges in diagnosis and treatment due to limited awareness among healthcare providers.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
CBC

Budworms ravaged Maine's forests for years. They're starting to come back.
An aerial survey revealed 3,000 acres of Maine's forests damaged by spruce budworm in July, with 178,000 acres at risk next spring. The state uses early intervention to prevent an outbreak similar to the one from 1967 to 1993 that devastated millions of acres.
Aroostook County, Maine, United States
Press Herald

Green crabs to choke cherry trees, invasive species infesting Alaska
Invasive species like green crabs and choke cherry trees are causing environmental and economic harm in Alaska.
Alaska, United States

NZ's first caulerpa dredging machine to be used in Northland's fight against invasive seaweed
New Zealand's first mechanical suction dredge is being trialed in Northland to combat the invasive seaweed caulerpa, potentially revolutionizing marine biosecurity efforts.
Murchison, Tasman, New Zealand
NZ Herald

Alaska experts try to untangle invasive Japanese knotweed
Alaska experts are grappling with the challenge of controlling the highly invasive Japanese knotweed, which is resistant to conventional eradication methods and threatens local ecosystems.
Juneau, Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Northern states prepare for battle against invasion of feral Canadian ‘super pigs’
Northern states are implementing measures to prevent the spread of invasive "super pigs" from Canada, which are a crossbreed of wild boar and domestic swine, causing significant ecological and agricultural damage.
Canada
Anchorage Daily News

Pretty but pesky: Alaskans wage war on invasive plants
A "weed smackdown" at an Anchorage park is part of a long-running campaign to stop the spread of plants that are harming the natural ecosystem.
Alaska, United States
Alaska Public Media

Anne Margrethe was sick from a tick bite: – Know how bad it can be
The Institute of Public Health is expanding the area where they recommend that people take the vaccine against the tick borne encephalitis.
Oslo, Oslo, Norway
NRK

Here is how the B.C. government plans to eradicate murder hornets
Also dubbed the murder hornet, the invasive wasps threaten pollinators and have been found in communities along both sides of the Canada-U.S. border and on Vancouver Island. B.C. officials will focus on the Fraser Valley in their efforts to track and eradicate Asian giant hornets this year.
Fraser Valley G, British Columbia, Canada
Vancouver Is Awesome

Western Hemlock Looper Outbreak
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Invasive shrimp-sucking parasite continues northward Pacific expansion
Researchers have identified an invasive blood-sucking parasite on mud shrimp in the waters of British Columbia's Calvert Island. The discovery represents the northern-most record of the parasite on the West Coast and is likely an indication of its ability to spread without human transport.
Calvert Island, British Columbia, Canada
Phys.org

Newly-discovered seaweed species threatens protected coral reefs in Pacific
Scientists have said the algae is spreading faster than anything they have seen in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Pearl & Hermes Atoll, Midway, US Minor Outlying Islands
Sky News

Sea lice outbreak in juvenile salmon prompts First Nations leaders to call for fish farm closures
Wild salmon have higher rates of the parasites when ocean fish farms are near, research shows
Discovery Islands
Victoria News
Zoe Ducklow, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Why Are Swarms Of Locusts Wreaking Havoc In East Africa?
Clouds of the insects can stretch for miles, devouring vegetation and destroying crops. Locust experts say time is running out to get the swarms under control because they multiply so quickly.
Otuke, Uganda
NPR.org

Salmon farms losing battle with sea lice as wild fish pay the price
The aquaculture industry has failed to bring epidemic of sea lice under control in B.C.’s Clayoquot Sound.
Tofino, British Columbia, Canada
The Narwhal

Anchorage spruce trees are dying. We need to talk about what happens next.
At some point even commercial tree removers will need help with disposal. And what should be planted in their place?
Anchorage, Alaska, United States
Anchorage Daily News

Swamp rats have invaded California
Somewhere between the size of a sewer rat and a beaver, with a tail resembling that of an opossum and protruding, nacho cheese-colored teeth, the nutria is both impressively unattractive and highly destructive.
Central Valley, California, United States
Los Angeles Times

The trouble with thrips: They’re as annoying to gardeners as is possible
These tiny, black, thread-like pests dig into plants and like to hang about in gangs, which is why you see so many of them. It is as if they want to be as annoying as possible.
Anchorage, Alaska, United States

Sea Lice Plagues Return and Threat to Wild Salmon Increases
DFO documents reveal treatment failures and inability to protect migrating salmon.
Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada
The Tyee

Bullhead City, Arizona Was a Retiree Paradise. Then Came a Biblical Plague of Flies.
Environmentalists often decry the loss of species diversity in rivers that have been dammed. But while some species lose when we meddle with rivers, others win, sometimes in dramatic and ways.
Bullhead City, Arizona, United States
OneZero

Wild pigs are a big problem. Here’s how they kill ’em in Texas
'There's nothing good about them.' They carry disease and cause billions in damage
Canada
National Post

Snow geese are everywhere, and we need to do something about it
As their population grows worldwide, the birds are destroying the habitat of other waterfowl.
Utqiaġvik, Alaska, United States

El Niño Triggered Disease Outbreaks Across Globe
The 2015 to 2016 El Niño event brought weather conditions that triggered regional disease outbreaks throughout the world.
Tropical Pacific Ocean
Laboratory Equipment

Saugeen Ojibway Nation confronts effects of climate change on whitefish fishery
The fishing communities of Saugeen First Nation and Chippewas of Nawash are finding higher winds and warmer temperatures are affecting populations of lake whitefish in Lake Huron and Georgian Bay, which many rely on for their livelihoods.
Lake Huron / Georgian Bay
CBC

Spread of invasive species in Canada costs billions, changes environment
A 2008 report by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency said there were at least 486 invasive alien plant species alone in Canada.
Creston, British Columbia, Canada
The Star

As Seas Warm, Galápagos Islands Face a Giant Evolutionary Test
Climate change is ravaging the natural laboratory that inspired Darwin. The creatures here are on the brink of crisis.
Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
New York Times

Drug-resistant sea lice out of control on B.C. Coast
Fisheries and Oceans Canada confirms the findings of independent research that says sea lice on salmon farms are becoming resistant to SLICE, a pesticide used to kill sea lice.
Fortune Channel, Clayoquot Sound, British Columbia, Canada
Digital Journal

Ticks Are Killing an Alarming Number of Moose Thanks to Climate Change
Researchers examined 179 radio-marked young moose over the course of a four-month period. Of those calves they screened, 125—or nearly 70 percent—of the moose calves died. The researchers suspect this is primarily because of the winter tick.
New Hampshire, United States
Earther

Death Knell For Ash Trees
The Western New York landscape is now strewn with dead and dying Ash trees. The evidence of the Ash Borer's destruction is crystal clear, and our environment may never be the same.
Angola, New York, United States
WGRZ

State drops invasive insect defense zone for ash trees
ALBANY - After years of trying to slow a voracious Chinese beetle that is decimating ash trees, state environmental officials are waving the white flag: The Department of Environmental Conservation dropped a logging quarantine, and said it might be time to cut healthy trees still uninfested.
In a brief notice posted online Wednesday, the DEC repealed logging restrictions that had failed to contain the spread of the emerald ash borer (EAB) by limiting shipments of ash.
The state created the quarantine in 2015 to slow the insect, which is a shiny green beetle about the size of a penny. The borer likely will ultimately bring about the end of the state's 700 million ash trees - down from earlier estimates of 900 million ash trees before the beetles' arrival - and forever change an industry that uses ash to produce bats for major league baseball.
Dolgeville, New York, United States
Times Union

How the American bullfrog is eating its way into BC
Like a horde of slimy green zombies, the incredibly invasive American bullfrog is hopping the border into the West Kootenay.
Creston Valley Wildlife Management Area, British Columbia, Canada
Nelson Star

Sea Lice Exploded among Wild Young Salmon near BC Fish Farms
B.C salmon farms last year were besieged by sea lice, according to a new University of Toronto study, which also found a dangerously steep rise of infestation among young wild salmon who swam nearby.
Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia, Canada
The Tyee

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