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Chinook Forecast is Best in 3 Years by Eric Barker Lewiston Tribune, February 11, 2022

Fisheries managers anticipate modest improvement in spring run;
fishing seasons to be discussed

Spring chinook futures are looking up, even if only modestly, for the first time in about three years.

A collection of state, tribal and federal fisheries managers is forecasting 122,900 spring chinook bound for tributaries above Bonneville Dam will make it at least as far as the mouth of the Columbia River this year. That number includes about 73,400 chinook that will be bound for the Snake River and its tributaries, an increase of about 20,000 compared to last year.

The forecast for Snake River-bound springers includes 60,200 hatchery-origin fish and about 13,200 wild fish.

If the forecast proves accurate, it would be the first time the total return of upriver spring chinook (those bound for areas upstream of Bonneville Dam) has exceeded 100,000 fish since 2018, when the return to the mouth of the Columbia was estimated at 115,081. It also would be the highest return of Snake River-bound fish since the estimated return of 111,072 in 2016. The estimated return of 13,200 wild chinook bound for the Snake River would be the second-highest return in the previous five years but still only 63% of the 10-year average.

Officials from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game will host a series of public meetings starting next week to share their forecasts for returns to the Snake River above Lower Granite Dam and proposals for fishing seasons on the Clearwater, lower Salmon and Snake rivers. Joe DuPont, regional fisheries manager for the department at Lewiston, said the Clearwater River is likely to have a harvest share of about 2,000 hatchery spring chinook. Last year the agency didn't propose a fishing season on the Clearwater River or its tributaries, and the 2020 season was shuttered because of poor fish numbers.

"This year we do have enough fish coming back to meet broodstock needs and will be able to propose a fishery," DuPont said. "This will really be the first fishery (on the Clearwater) since 2018, where we can provide a regular fishery without all kinds of crazy restrictions."

Hatchery chinook that are surplus to hatchery spawning needs are split evenly between sport anglers and Nez Perce tribal fishers. So an estimated harvest share of 2,000 adult chinook means fisheries managers are predicting a surplus of 4,000 hatchery fish.

Fisheries managers will talk about possible season structures for the Clearwater River and its tributaries at the meetings and also discuss proposals aimed at making sure sport angling doesn't prevent tribal anglers from catching their share of the Clearwater run.

DuPont said the fishery on the lower Salmon and Little Salmon rivers will start with an estimated harvest share of about 3,600 for chinook bound for the Rapid River hatchery. According to the department's harvest metrics, harvest shares in excess of 3,000 come with the possibility of fishing seasons that are open seven days a week with a bag limit of two fish per day.

DuPont said this year's forecast is an improvement from the poor returns of late but still well short of what he would like to see and still small enough that harvest shares may be quickly reached.

"It's been three years, and really, four out of the last five, where it's been pretty crappy. This is definitely an improvement over that," he said. "I would like to get back to the years when we were having harvest shares over 7,000. That is when we were providing lots of opportunity for extended periods of time."

Meetings will be held at the Riggins Community Center in Riggins on Tuesday; Idaho Fish and Game Office in Lewiston on Wednesday; and Clearwater Hatchery near Orofino on Thursday. Pizza will be served at all of the meetings, which start at 5:30 p.m. local time.

Related Pages: Jarring Report On Snake Basin Spring/Summer Chinook, Steelhead Runs by Eric Barker, Northwest Sportsman, 4/30/21
Tribe's Fish Study is 'A Call to Alarm' by Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, 4/30/21
Steelhead Slump Appears to Be Record Low by Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, 8/13/21