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Managers Predict Spring Chinook Run Lower, Summers Higher Next Year by Bill Rudolph NW Fishletter, December 13, 2012

On Dec. 12, Columbia Basin harvest managers released preseason predictions for many of next year's runs. With far lower jack counts this year, they expect about 141,000 upriver spring chinook. Last year, with a huge jack count, they had predicted more than 300,000, but little more than 200,000 actually showed up.

For the Willamette River, nearly 60,000 springers are expected. Last year, about 83,000 were predicted and 65,000 were counted by the end of the season.

The Upper Columbia summer chinook run is expected to come in at 73,500 fish. That's better than last year's 58,000-fish return. More than 91,000 had actually been predicted.

Another good sockeye year is predicted with 180,500 expected at the mouth of the river. Last year, nearly 516,000 returned, beating the 462,000-fish prediction. Another 1,250 Snake River sockeye are expected to return.

Fall chinook estimates are still in the works, but the run is expected to be better than last year's return, which was somewhat less than the 466,500-fish prediction. Tule fall chinook also came in below last year's 188,000-fish prediction. In 2013, the tule run is expected to be similar to or less than last year's. Last year's coho numbers also came in below the preseason estimate of 241,000. This coming year. harvest managers expect a higher return.