Good Columbia River Return For ESA-Listed Smelt This Year; Researchers Learning More On Spawning Activities
March 19th, 2020
Once the run is complete, a biologist with the Washington fishery department said that some 7.5 million pounds of eulachon, also known as Pacific smelt, will have entered the Columbia River. That’s 3 million pounds more than showed up in 2019.
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Three Ocean Fishery Alternatives Reflect Lowest Coho Return To Columbia River In 20 Years
March 12th, 2020
Three ocean salmon fishery alternatives that were approved for public review Monday, March 9, by the Pacific Fishery Management Council reflect the lowest predicted return of coho salmon to the Columbia River in 20 years.
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States Set Columbia River Spring Chinook Seasons; Urged To Restrain Early-Season Fishing In Lower River So More Fish Reach Idaho
February 20th, 2020
Oregon and Washington set recreational spring chinook and winter steelhead fishing seasons in the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam that in April limits the number of days per week anglers will be allowed to fish. And, beginning March 1, angling for salmon and steelhead will not be allowed in the river from Warrior Rock at St. Helens, OR downstream to Buoy 10 to protect hatchery fish returning to Cowlitz and Lewis river hatcheries.
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Harvest Managers Set Commercial Smelt Gillnet (Research) Fishery In Lower Columbia; Approve Treaty Sturgeon Fishing Days
January 30th, 2020
In its first hearing of the year, the two-state Columbia River Compact set a commercial smelt gillnet fishery in the lower Columbia River and approved Treaty commercial and hook and line fishing in areas upstream of Bonneville Dam.
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Preseason Columbia River Fish Return Forecast: 81,700 Spring Chinook (43 Percent Of Average), 246,300 Sockeye
January 23rd, 2020
Although the 2020 preseason forecast for upriver spring chinook is higher than last year’s actual return of the fish to the Columbia River, the expected run is still just 43 percent of the 10-year average.
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Vernita Bar Agreement Provides Flow Protections For Spawning Wild Fall Chinook In Hanford Reach; This Season’s 7,733 Redds Within 10-Year Range
January 9th, 2020
Every fall Columbia River dam operators manage river flows through Hanford Reach to provide minimum flow protections for wild fall chinook salmon nests, also known as redds, at Vernita Bar.
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Steelhead Hatchery Broodstock Concerns Prompts Continued Angling Closures; 2019 Return Far Below 10-Year Average
January 3rd, 2020
Oregon and Washington fisheries agencies are continuing their closure of a 17-mile stretch of the mainstem Columbia River upstream of McNary Dam to the state line to steelhead angling and retention through March 31, 2020 due to fears that some hatcheries may not make their steelhead brood stock collection goals. The run of summer steelhead in 2019 is the fifth lowest run size since 1954, when McNary Dam was built near the Oregon town of Umatilla.
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With Northwest Water Supply Improving, River Managers Set Date For Flows To Protect Chum Salmon Nests Below Bonneville Dam
December 18th, 2019
Spawning of threatened Lower Columbia River chum salmon in the Ives/Pierce Island area downstream of Bonneville Dam area on the Columbia River’s north shore is nearing an end, prompting the interagency Technical Management Team this week to set a date to transition to incubation flows designed to protect the chum nests, or redds.
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Lake Roosevelt Lowest Level In 70 Years But Flows For Listed Lower Columbia Chum Salmon Continue; Spawner Numbers Decent So Far
December 5th, 2019
More than 500 threatened chum salmon were counted at the end of November on spawning grounds downstream of Bonneville Dam in the Ives/Pierce island area on the Columbia’s north shore. Although only halfway through the spawning season for these salmon, an anadromous fish expert with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife says this year’s tally could end up being higher than the last five-year average.