1800-ColumbiaRiver
Run Sizes and Forecasts
• Sockeye passage at Bonneville Dam through July
23 totals 213,416 fish. Passage is typically
99% complete by July 23 based on the recent 10-year average.
• Summer Chinook passage at Bonneville Dam totals 49,216 adults
during June 16-July 23.
Passage is typically 90% complete by July 23 based on the recent
10-year average.
• The counting period for summer Chinook at Priest Rapids Dam is
June 14 through August
13. Passage at Priest Rapids is 30,035 summer Chinook through July
20.
• The sockeye count at Lower Granite Dam is 814 through July 23.
These counts are
significantly higher than the previous record sockeye count since
ESA listing of 337 at
Lower Granite in 2000 and are higher than any annual count at any
Snake River project since
1969.
• TAC met July 9 and downgraded the summer Chinook run from the
previous in-season
estimate of 57,000 fish to 54,000 fish at the river mouth which is
still greater than the preseason
forecast of 52,000. Counts have dropped somewhat and the run may be
closer to
52,000.
• TAC also left the previously upgraded sockeye estimate at 230,000
sockeye at the river
mouth. The run is tracking closer to approximately 215,000 at the
river mouth.
• Based on the current in-season run Chinook estimate (54,000 fish),
treaty Indian and non-
Indian fisheries are each allocated 12,000 fish. At 52,000, the
allowed harvest would be
11,250. Based on a 215,000 sockeye run size estimate, the allowed
harvest is 15,050 (7%).
Columbia River Fisheries
Treaty Indian Fisheries
• Five weekly treaty Indian commercial gillnet fishing periods have
been adopted during June
23-July 24. Platform hook and line fisheries in Zone 6 have been
ongoing since June 16.
Yakama Nation tributary and below Bonneville Dam fisheries are also
in place.
• Catch estimates are shown in the table below. Projections are
included for this week’s
fishery and for the proposed fishery for next week.
• The preliminary Zone 6 platform hook and line catch is estimated
at 449 summer Chinook,
965 steelhead and 3,200 sockeye through July 5. The platform catch
during commercial
gillnet openings is included in those catch estimates. The projected
harvest in the platform
hook and line fishery is expected to be 600 Chinook, 1,500
steelhead, and 3,250 sockeye
through July 31. New Washington policy approved
for
Columbia River spring Chinook
OLYMPIA - The Washington Fish and Wildlife
commission today approved a new management policy for Columbia River
spring Chinook salmon designed to promote conservation of wild fish
while providing stability for sport and commercial fisheries.
The new five-year policy is consistent with catch-sharing provisions
recommended by a joint subcommittee of the Washington and Oregon
fish and wildlife commissions, while also providing some additional
early-season commercial fishing opportunities sought by the Oregon
commission.
But with differences remaining between the policies adopted by the
two states, the commissions must still find common ground on several
issues before they can develop new regulations for the jointly
managed fishery.
Both states' commissions based their new management policies on
objectives recommended by the Columbia River Fish Working Group, a
bi-state panel that includes three commission members, two fishery
managers and several citizen advisors from each state. Those
objectives call for providing:
A conservation "buffer" to maintain a low risk of exceeding impact
limits on wild salmon listed for protection under the federal
Endangered Species Act (ESA).
A high probability of an uninterrupted 45-day sport-fishing season
on the lower Columbia River in March and April.
25 percent of the sport fishery's allowable impacts to fisheries
above Bonneville Dam.
A stable commercial fishery in off-channel "select areas" such as
Deep River in Washington and Youngs Bay in Oregon.
Commercial fishing opportunities in the mainstem Columbia River in
March and April.
Sport and commercial fishing opportunities in May if the run is
large enough.
Because the upriver spring Chinook run includes wild fish listed for
protection under the federal ESA, the fishery is managed under rules
that limit mortality rates for wild fish from .05 percent to 2.7
percent of the run.
Under the catch-sharing policy recommended by the bi-state Working
Group and adopted by the Washington commission, 65 percent of those
limited "impacts" would be allocated to the sport fishery and 35
percent to the commercial fishery.
But in a departure from the Working Group's recommendations, the
policy approved by the Oregon commission in December approved a base
rate of 55 percent for the sport fishery and 45 percent for the
commercial fishery to boost the commercial share of the catch.
As a compromise measure, the Washington commission reconsidered the
size of the early-season "buffer" - the portion of the mainstem
commercial fishery that will be delayed until the size of the run
can be verified by an in-season assessment. By reducing the buffer
from 50 percent to 40 percent, Washington's policy would increase
the early-season commercial catch in the mainstem Columbia River by
an estimated 1,400 fish.
According to a recent projection, nearly 300,000 spring chinook are
expected to return to the river this year, which would make the run
the third-highest on record.
Under Washington's new policy, anglers are expected to catch 22,300
of those fish from Bonneville Dam downstream and 7,400 above the
dam. For commercial fisheries, 7,800 spring chinook would be
available on the mainstem Columbia River and 6,300 in off-channel
select areas.
Meeting via conference call, the Washington commission also:
Extended the previous management plan for summer Chinook salmon by
one year. Consistent with Oregon's policy, that plan includes a
50-50 allocation formula for sport and commercial fisheries below
Priest Rapids Dam.
Elected Commissioner Miranda Wecker chair and Commissioner Gary
Douvia vice-chair of the commission through Dec. 2010. Wecker, who
has served on the commission since March 2005 and as vice-chair
since January 2007, succeeds Commissioner Jerry Gutzwiler, who was
elected chair in January 2007. Douvia has served on the commission
since January 2007.
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