the film forum library tutorial contact DONATE

Spring Chinook Fishing Shut Down Until Updated Run Forecast by Staff Columbia Basin Bulletin, April 12, 2013

Only 1,195 Fish Have Crossed Bonneville

With most of the allowable Columbia River upriver spring chinook salmon catch in hand, it appears as if anglers, and commercial fishers, will be kept off the lower river for a while until the catch data and/or run-size can be re-evaluated.

The lower Columbia sport fishery, which was scheduled to close April 6 but extended through April 12, closes at the end of the day today. And no meeting is now scheduled to consider a reopening.

Oregon and Washington fish managers will review harvest data next week to see if there is any potential for more fishing opportunity on the lower Columbia mainstem before the upriver spring chinook return forecast is updated in late April or early May.

Spring chinook fisheries are managed to limit impacts on the upriver portion of the run that is bound for tributary spawning grounds and hatcheries upstream of Bonneville Dam in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. Those "take" limits are intended hold down impacts on wild Snake River and Upper Columbia portions of the run protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Most of the harvest, which includes upriver and lower Columbia spring chinook, takes place in the lower river from Bonneville downstream to the mouth of the Columbia. Based on test gill netting and recreational fishery data, the state agency staffs estimated that about 70 percent of the catch has been of upriver origin.

The estimated lower Columbia River sport catch through Sunday April 7 was 3,668 kept chinook from 61,500 angler trips so far this year. The Oregon and Washington department of fish and wildlife staffs estimated that an additional 2,330 adult chinook would be caught and kept this week from 14,500 angler trips.

Overall, it is estimated that the total sport kept catch and release mortalities through today would include 4,484 adult upriver chinook, which would amount to 91 percent of the 4,934 available under management guidelines before the run-size is updated.

The preseason forecast was for a total return to the mouth of the Columbia of 141,400 adult upriver spring chinook salmon. Sport and commercial fishers are each allocated a percentage of the overall upriver run, but 30 percent of the allocation based on the preseason forecast is withheld until there is more certainty about the actual run size.

The non-tribal commercial fleet carried out its first fishery of the season in the lower Columbia, landing an estimated 1,025 chinook during a nine-hour outing Tuesday. That was 225 chinook fewer than expected (a catch of 1,250 chinook, including 1,040 upriver fish), but still brings the gill-netters near their 1,222 upriver allotment.

Overall, the catch estimated to be in-hand through April 12 would require a final upriver run size of about 80,000 in order to stay within harvests limits outlined in a management between the states and tribes. Since an early to mid-1990s nosedive, the return has rarely gone below 80,000 with the last time being in 1999.

This year's upriver run is only just beginning to show itself. According to the recent five-year average only 1 percent of a year's run will have passed over Bonneville by April 10, and 5 percent by April 18, and 10 percent by April 22. In those recent years 50 percent passage at the dam has ranged from April 24 to May 12.

The counts at Bonneville, located 146 river miles upstream from the Pacific have only recently reached into triple digits, at 145, 177 and 153 Monday through Wednesday for a total of 1,195 spring chinook so far this year. That's about 70 percent of the 2004-2012 average through April 10.

Salmonid angling improved over the weekend despite the stormy weather. Boat anglers had the best success in the estuary where they averaged 0.85 spring chinook caught per boat. In the Portland to Longview area boat anglers averaged 0.64 spring chinook caught per boat, while anglers fishing in the Troutdale just upstream of Portland averaged only 0.02 spring chinook caught per boat.

On Saturday's flight, 855 salmonid boats and 416 Oregon bank anglers were counted from the Columbia River estuary to Bonneville Dam.