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Columbia River Updated Fish Returns are a Mixed Bag by Mark Yuasa Seattle Times, September 9, 2010

The Columbia River Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) -- made up of Washington, Oregon and tribal fisheries managers -- met Wednesday, Sept. 8 to review chinook and steelhead stock status.

The TAC concluded that the timing of fall chinook at Bonneville Dam appears to be similar to the 10-year average.

For fall chinook, TAC preliminarily updated the Upriver Bright (URB) river mouth run size to 295,800 fish versus the 319,200 preseason forecast.

The Bonneville Pool Hatchery (BPH) tule stock was downgraded from the preseason forecast of 162,900 adults to 141,000 adults at the Columbia River mouth.

The TAC also reviewed summer steelhead passage at Bonneville Dam and updated the Group A component to 325,000 steelhead (337,500 preseason). They did not update the Group B component (preseason forecast 99,100 fish).

Coho passage at Bonneville Dam through Wednesday, Sept. 8 totals 24,712 adult fish. A total of 82,900 adult coho are expected to pass Bonneville Dam in 2010. Passage is typically 50-percent complete on Sept. 15.

The Buoy 10 recreational fishery at the Columbia River mouth through Wednesday, Sept. 8 an estimated 48,000 anglers kept 6,900 chinook and 9,000 hatchery-marked coho compared to the preseason catch expectation of 12,500 chinook and 11,900 hatchery coho. Currently the Buoy 10 area is open for hatchery-marked coho only.

The Lower Columbia mainstem sport fishery below Bonneville Dam: The estimated kept catch of adult chinook from Aug. 1 through Sept. 5 is 8,200 fish. Based on current projections, the season total kept chinook catch is expected to be similar to preseason expectations of 17,200 chinook.