05-07-2006, 08:25 PM
Columbia counts for the Spring Chinook are way down so far, leading to the closure. The Oregonian had an article yesterday titled "Revised prediction due next week in light of dismal Chinook returns."
Following are some quoates:
"As of Friday, only about 15,500 spring Chinook had gone past the dam. The ten year average is about 112,000 past the dam for this time of year."
"By Friday, only 18 spring Chinook had gone past Lower Granite Dam, the uppermost of the eight dams between the Pacific Ocean and Idaho by way of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The ten year average for this time of year is about 18,000 fish."
"Oregon, Washington, and Idaho put about 14.2 million hatchery spring Chinook into the Columbia River System each year above Bonneville Dam. About 1% or fewer survive the journey to the ocean and back."
We had more snow than normal this year, so the colder water may have delayed the run. There is another article about the sea lion problem below the dam. There are about 30-50 sea lions hanging out below Bonneville. They are eating about 120 salmon a day. They are hazing with rubber bullets and firecrackers, but they still hang out eating away. Last year, about 8 of them figured out how to go into the fish ladder, so this year thry installed gates to keep them out. One still figured out the gate. There is a move about to get a limited harvest of the sea lions (also protected), but will take several years of government wrangling.
As for wild fish retention, Spring and Summer Chinook must be clipped. The Fall Cinook is all wild and 2 per day, 4 per week can be kept. Tillamook area rivers and bays, 10 per year can be kept. Steelhead must be clipped with the exception of a couple rivers on the southern Oregon coast where 5 wild fish per year can be kept. The State has gone to a brood stock program at most of the hatcheries, in which selected fishermen will catch and transport wild fish to the hatcheries to be spawned with one wild and one hatchery parent. These fish tend to return later in the winter giving us a more spread out and longer season we can expect to retain fish. There are still some stragler brood stock fish returning to some of the rivers. Summer Stealhead also need to be clipped. They are returning now and hanging out until winter to spawn. We can pretty much find Steelhead all year somewhere.
Sorry I have been so long winded.
JustDave
Following are some quoates:
"As of Friday, only about 15,500 spring Chinook had gone past the dam. The ten year average is about 112,000 past the dam for this time of year."
"By Friday, only 18 spring Chinook had gone past Lower Granite Dam, the uppermost of the eight dams between the Pacific Ocean and Idaho by way of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. The ten year average for this time of year is about 18,000 fish."
"Oregon, Washington, and Idaho put about 14.2 million hatchery spring Chinook into the Columbia River System each year above Bonneville Dam. About 1% or fewer survive the journey to the ocean and back."
We had more snow than normal this year, so the colder water may have delayed the run. There is another article about the sea lion problem below the dam. There are about 30-50 sea lions hanging out below Bonneville. They are eating about 120 salmon a day. They are hazing with rubber bullets and firecrackers, but they still hang out eating away. Last year, about 8 of them figured out how to go into the fish ladder, so this year thry installed gates to keep them out. One still figured out the gate. There is a move about to get a limited harvest of the sea lions (also protected), but will take several years of government wrangling.
As for wild fish retention, Spring and Summer Chinook must be clipped. The Fall Cinook is all wild and 2 per day, 4 per week can be kept. Tillamook area rivers and bays, 10 per year can be kept. Steelhead must be clipped with the exception of a couple rivers on the southern Oregon coast where 5 wild fish per year can be kept. The State has gone to a brood stock program at most of the hatcheries, in which selected fishermen will catch and transport wild fish to the hatcheries to be spawned with one wild and one hatchery parent. These fish tend to return later in the winter giving us a more spread out and longer season we can expect to retain fish. There are still some stragler brood stock fish returning to some of the rivers. Summer Stealhead also need to be clipped. They are returning now and hanging out until winter to spawn. We can pretty much find Steelhead all year somewhere.
Sorry I have been so long winded.
JustDave