With Higher In-Season Forecast, States Open Columbia River For Summer Chinook Fishing July 4-8; Sockeye, Steelhead Angling Still Closed
July 2nd, 2020
Oregon and Washington are opening a five-day recreational summer chinook angling period on the mainstem Columbia River beginning this weekend after an in-season forecast boosted the anticipated number of chinook entering the river by 58 percent over the preseason forecast.
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Guest Column: Without Wild Fish There Are No Fish And No Fisheries
July 2nd, 2020
The only reason there are any fisheries in the Columbia River and tributaries right now is due to the abundance of wild sockeye, wild summer chinook and wild steelhead.
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Angler Success Leads States To Close Sockeye/Steelhead Fishing On Mainstem Columbia River To Protect ESA Snake River Sockeye
June 25th, 2020
The two-state Columbia River Compact this week abruptly shut down recreational fishing for sockeye salmon on the mainstem Columbia River as anglers exceeded the limit on the number of sockeye allowed.
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With Enough Spring Chinook In Lower Snake Now Passing Little Goose Dam, Idaho Rescinds Spill Change Request
June 12th, 2020
Spring operations at Little Goose Dam on the lower Snake River this last weekend apparently resulted in enough spring chinook passing the dam that Idaho on Monday (June 8) rescinded a request made last week, along with NOAA Fisheries and the Nez Perce Tribe, at the interagency Technical Management Team meeting.
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Uptick In Spring Chinook Forecast, Sockeye Passage To-Date Above Average; Tribes To Begin Commercial Gillnetting Above Bonneville Dam
June 12th, 2020
Columbia River Treaty Tribes will begin commercial gillnetting, along with commercial platform and hook and line fishing, upstream of Bonneville Dam (Zone 6) for summer chinook next week, a plan outlined by the tribes at a two-state Columbia River Compact hearing Monday, June 8. Some platform and hook and line fishing is also planned for downstream of Bonneville.
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Spill For Juvenile Fish Migration At Lower Snake Dams Holding Back Adult Spawners Headed For Idaho; River Managers Discuss Possible Operations Change
June 5th, 2020
A proposal aimed at reducing travel time and passing more adult spring chinook salmon on the lower Snake River at Little Goose Dam was “elevated” to a higher task force for a decision this week at the interagency Technical Management Team meeting Wednesday, June 3.
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Marine Survival Cited As Main Factor For This Year’s Historically Low Spring Chinook Return; ‘Workhorse Hatcheries’ Struggling
June 4th, 2020
An already low in-season forecast for spring chinook salmon was revised this week to 71,600 fish at the Columbia River mouth and only about 70,000 at Bonneville Dam, according to the U.S. v Oregon Technical Advisory Committee, which forecasts runs of salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River.
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Worst Spring Chinook Return Since 1999; Fishing Shut Down, Concerns Grow Over Lack Of Broodstock Returns To Basin Hatcheries
May 21st, 2020
After a drop in the spring chinook salmon forecast and dire predictions that some hatcheries won’t make broodstock quotas this year, the two-state Columbia River Compact this week shut down mainstem Columbia River fisheries.
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Forecasted Poor Returns Means No Columbia River Mainstem Summer Chinook Fishing; Sockeye, Fall Chinook, Steelhead Fishing Likely For Summer, Fall
May 21st, 2020
An anticipated poor summer run of chinook salmon means no summer chinook fishing this year on the Columbia River mainstem, according to Oregon and Washington. The summer season will be limited to only sockeye and steelhead retention.