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Local Anglers Catch Nearly 90,000 Pikeminnow by Staff KPTV, August 3, 2011

PORTLAND, OR - This season, 540 anglers participated in the pikeminnow sport-reward program that helps save endangered salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake rivers.

The anglers have caught 88,999 pikeminnow so far this season.

According to Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), pikeminnow are ravenous eaters and can consume millions of young salmon and steelhead in a year.

Anglers could earn between $4 and $8 per fish. State fish and wildlife workers tagged 1,000 special pikeminnow with markers worth $500 if caught. About 100 of those tagged have been caught so far.

The top angler earned more than $36,000 in just three months.

Since the program began in 1990, anglers that participated in the program have removed nearly 4 million pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake rivers.

The program is administered by the States Marine Fisheries Commission and is funded by BPA.

The season for the reward program ends Sept. 30. For more information, visit www.pikeminnow.org.