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Spring Chinook Run Now Expected in Range of 300,000-Plus by Allen Thomas, The Columbian The Oregonian, May 8, 2010

The spring chinook salmon run to the Columbia River is big, but not the monster return forecast.

The run is expected to range from 310,000 to 370,000, said Chris Kern of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. That range would rival the 334,559 in 2002, but is substantially smaller than the initial prediction of 470,000.

About half the run is believed to have passed Bonneville Dam, making the return earlier than the very late runs of the last five years, Kern said.

The count at Bonneville Dam through Tuesday is 163,370. Sport and commercial fishermen downstream of Bonneville Dam have landed 32,320 chinook originally destined for upstream of the dam.

Chinook passing Bonneville Dam through June 15 are categorized as the spring stock.