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Ecology and salmon related articles

Need to Protect Wild Tule Chinook Makes
Scheduling Fishing Season a Tough Task

by Bill Monroe
The Oregonian, April 14, 2022

Oregon and Washington announced late Thursday the reopening of part of the Columbia river to salmon fishing. Juggling offshore salmon fishing seasons with protecting coho salmon in British Columbia and northern Washington and chinook in the Klamath River was dicey enough for the Pacific Fishery Management Council’s spring decision session in Seattle.

But it paled in comparison to assembling a briar patch of Columbia River sport, commercial and tribal seasons, forced by the need to protect wild tule chinook in lower Columbia River tributaries.

Following are the details:

(All decisions remain tentative until officially adopted by the Department of Commerce and state fish and wildlife commissions.)

Columbia sport (summer)

Astoria-Megler Bridge to Bonneville Dam: June 16-22 for fin-clipped chinook; two fish per day; quota of 1,074.

Bonneville Dam to U.S. 395: June 16 to July 31 for fin-clipped chinook; two fish per day; quota of 190.

Columbia sport (fall)

(Notes: No steelhead retention through Oct. 31 from Buoy 10 to The Dalles Dam and from Sept. 1 through March 31, 2023 from The Dalles Dam to U.S.395 Bridge; only one adult chinook per day riverwide; all coho between Buoy 10 and the Hood River Bridge must be fin-clipped; all salmon angling is closed between West Puget Island and Bonneville Dam when chinook retention is closed.)

Buoy 10 to West Puget Island: Aug. 1-24 -- two salmon, only one can be a chinook (hatchery); Aug. 25 to Sept. 7 -- two salmon but only one hatchery or wild chinook; Sept. 8-30 -- three hatchery coho (no chinook); Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 -- three salmon, but only one chinook, hatchery or wild.

West Puget Island to Warrior Rock: Aug. 1 to Sept. 7, -- two salmon, only one chinook, hatchery or wild; closed to all salmon Sept. 8-30; reopens Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 for two salmon, but only one chinook, hatchery or wild.

Warrior Rock to Bonneville Dam: Aug. 1 to Sept. 13 -- two salmon, only one chinook, hatchery or wild; closed to all salmon Sept. 14-30; reopens Oct. 1 to Dec. 31 -- two salmon, only one chinook, hatchery or wild.

Bonneville Dam to U.S. 395: Aug. 1 to Dec. 31 -- two salmon, only one chinook, hatchery or wild (observe sanctuary zones).

Related Pages:
Reduced Steelhead Bag Limit for Oregon's Snake River by Staff, The Observer, 9/8/21
Portions of Mainstem Columbia Downstream of Bonneville Closing to All Salmon Fishing by Eric Barker, Tillamook County Pioneer, 9/6/21
Washington Closes Part of Snake to Steelhead Fishing by Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, 9/3/21
Stretch of Columbia River Closing to Salmon, Steelhead Fishing by Bill Monroe, The Oregonian, 9/2/21
Idaho Allows Limited Steelhead Season by Eric Barker, Lewiston Tribune, 9/2/21


Bill Monroe
Need to Protect Wild Tule Chinook Makes Scheduling Fishing Season a Tough Task
The Oregonian, April 14, 2022

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