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Region Sees Record Steelhead Runby Rich LandersThe Spokesman-Review, December 27, 2009 |
Anglers reel in thousands; local economy gets boost
The record run of steelhead that paraded up the Snake River delivered pleasure and profit from the mouth of the Columbia upstream 800 miles to the Salmon, Idaho, area.
On Aug. 13, a one-day record of 34,053 steelhead climbed over Bonneville Dam - the first of many they encounter on their migration from the ocean to spawning streams - and surged up the Columbia and inland like a piscatorial tsunami.
The 601,619 summer steelhead counted over Bonneville Dam from April through October was second only to the 630,000 that moved upstream in 2001.
But no year on record matched the number of those fish that were bound for Idaho waters. About 323,400 steelhead poured over Lower Granite Dam this summer and fall, smashing the record of 269,281 set in 2001.
So many hatchery fish were moving upstream, fish managers increased limits. In the upper Columbia, anglers were required to kill hatchery fish if they caught them in the effort to keep hatchery fish from overwhelming native steelhead on the spawning grounds.
Fish managers hinted they may have to reduce hatchery steelhead production to protect wild steelhead stocks starting next year.
A wealth of other fisheries blessed the region this year.
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