This is Northwest Public Broadcasting's Weekly News Now.

I'm Tracci Dial.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Pesticides are once again at the heart of a study, this one out of Oregon State University.

A common one, maybe even in your house right now, can be helpful with things like mosquito control.

It's also used in farm fields to get rid of unwanted insects.

Now, researchers at OSU are studying small amounts of it in fish.

They found the pesticides, even in tiny, tiny amounts can harm fish and potentially people too.

Here is Associate Professor Susanne Brander out of OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center.

“It's a bit of a red flag.

Like we should be looking into this because it could be contributing to population decline potentially in lots of different fish species.

” How the study was done is pretty interesting to learn all about it and read what others on the research team have to say, go to our website for the full article.

More than 1 million pounds of junk has been removed from the water on the west side of Washington, thanks to a ten year effort by the Samish Indian Nation, and it's still going.

Crews are scouting the waterways in the traditional homelands of the Samish Indian Nation, cleaning up things like Styrofoam and old wooden pilings with potentially harmful chemicals on them.

That's important to protect first foods like salmon and shellfish, even orcas.

Todd Woodard with the Samish DNR says the Samish people consider the southern resident J pod relatives.

“So really, the work that we're doing is is protecting family and protecting cultural identity.

” Now, you can help spot the debris and mark it on an app to help crews find it more easily.

You can find a link to the My Coast app that crews say is very helpful on NWPB.org.

Now, do us a favor and check out our election survey.

It's in both Spanish and English, and we do want to hear from you.

It's a short survey open until mid April.

We're putting communities over candidates in 2024.

Our election coverage will reflect what you want to know.

We'll ask candidates your questions and look into the issues you tell us about.

So go find that survey.

Please share it with your family and friends.

It's right at the top of the NWPB.org home page.

Other headlines you'll find there.

Party declaration is needed for your primary election ballot.

Find out why that was the case.

Plus, some helpful resources this election season.

Plus, the big takeaways from Washington's legislative session that ended last week.

And you can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.

I'm Tracci Dial with your NWPB Weekly News Now.

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Just search Northwest Public Broadcasting.