[ODFW-News] Columbia River closes to spring chinook angling

[ODFW News]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 	
Contact: 	Anne Pressentin Young (503) 947-6020	
Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us  Fax: (503) 947-6009
	

For Immediate Release	Tuesday, May 04, 2004

Columbia River closes to spring chinook angling Thursday morning
"Select area" fisheries in lower Columbia bays also close to both sport and commercial fishing

SALEM - With a new run size projection 44 percent smaller than pre-season forecasts, Oregon and Washington fishery managers today ended all sport fishing for salmon and steelhead in the Columbia River, effective 12:01 a.m., Thursday, May 6, because the allowable impacts to wild fish have been met.

Today's decision affects the area upstream of Bonneville Dam to McNary Dam as well as the sport fishery in the "select areas" of the lower Columbia River outside of the main channel in Youngs Bay, Blind Slough/Knappa Slough and Deep River. Angling for spring chinook between the Interstate 5 Bridge and Bonneville Dam closed Thursday, April 22. The sport fishery below the I-5 Bridge closed Saturday, May 1. 

Anglers are reminded that the Columbia River will reopen to adipose fin-clipped steelhead fishing between Tongue Point and the Interstate 5 Bridge Sunday, May 16. Shad fishing reopens May 16 between Buoy 10 and Bonneville Dam. In addition, tributaries to the Columbia River such as the Willamette and Sandy remain open for salmon and steelhead angling under permanent rules listed in the 2004 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations. 

Biologists from the Oregon and Washington fish and wildlife departments downgraded their pre-season prediction of the number of spring chinook destined for areas above Bonneville from 360,000 to 200,000. Pre-season predictions of the number of fish entering the Columbia River are based on jack counts at Bonneville Dam, the number spawning fish available and other factors. Biologists are unsure why the actual returns are less than the pre-season predictions, and will continue to evaluate the run. 

Until the sport fishery closes early Thursday morning, angling for adipose fin-clipped salmon, adipose fin-clipped steelhead and shad may continue in the upper river from Bonneville Dam to McNary Dam and in the select areas of the lower Columbia. 

The following rules are in place for today and Wednesday:
·	For the mainstem Columbia River from Tower Island power lines upstream to McNary Dam and the Oregon bank between Bonneville Dam and the Tower Island power lines (about 6 miles below The Dalles Dam), the season for adipose fin-clipped spring chinook, adipose fin-clipped steelhead, and shad is open through Wednesday. Anglers may retain two salmon or steelhead. Anglers are prohibited from totally removing from the water any salmon or steelhead required to be released.  
·	For the select areas of Youngs Bay, Blind Slough/Knappa Slough, and Deep River the season is open under permanent rules described in the 2004 Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations through Wednesday. Adipose fin-clipped spring chinook and adipose fin-clipped steelhead may be retained under the normal two salmon or steelhead daily bag limit. 

Catch rates for spring chinook were excellent in the Columbia in April, with individual boat anglers averaging 0.31 chinook per trip. Since the fishery began in February, there have been 164,009 angler trips in the Columbia River with 33,450 chinook landed. Of those, 25,624 were taken home. 

Spring chinook provide tremendous economic benefit to both the commercial and sport-fishing industries because the meat is prized for its flavor and it is the first fresh non-farmed salmon of the season to reach barbecues and specialty markets. 

The Columbia River spring chinook fishery is managed to allow the harvest of hatchery fish while protecting salmon runs that are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. The sport fishery for the Columbia River is limited to a 1.2 percent "impact" to spring chinook runs listed as threatened under the federal ESA. "Impacts" are the unintended mortalities associated with handling and releasing wild fish. 

Fishery managers, meeting as the Columbia River Compact, today also decided to rescind previously adopted commercial fisheries in the "select areas" located in the Columbia River bays outside of the main channel until further notice. The fisheries in Blind Slough/Knappa Slough, Deep River and Youngs Bay were slated to occur May 5 - June 18, 2004. 

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Information and Education Division
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
(503) 947-6002