Play video
Video Reports
Fishing Blog
Chester Allen -
Reduction possible in sturgeon catch rates
There is an issue on the horizon concerning Columbia River sturgeon that anglers might want to follow.
Last week, Oregon and Washington fish and wildlife officials, meeting in Vancouver, Wash., said it is possible the allowable catch of sturgeon from Bonneville Dam down to the mouth of the Columbia River could be reduced as much as 35 percent from recent years due to declines in sturgeon populations.
The meeting was called to determine what changes are needed in fishing regulations and guidelines in 2010 to help halt the sub-legal and legal sturgeon population declines. In recent years Columbia sport and commercial fisheries have been allowed to harvest up to 40,000 legal white sturgeon with 20 percent of that total going to the gill-net fleet and 80 percent to anglers,
Fishery managers from both states say new catch guidelines will likely reflect recent declines in lower Columbia River sturgeon populations which appears to have started in 2007 and accelerated in 2008.
John North of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said the area experienced a big decline in 2008. Abundance estimates had been near 100,000 or higher from 1995 through 2007 for 42- to 60-inch white sturgeon in the lower Columbia, but estimates dropped from 135,400 in 2007 to 97,000 in 2008.
Harvest is not the only cause for reduced sturgeon numbers, but it is the only known factor over which state managers have control.
Since 2005 there has been an increase in Steller sea lions feeding below Bonneville Dam which resulted in a large increase in predation on sturgeon. A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers study estimates the sturgeon catch below Bonneville rose from 413 in 2006 to 664 in 2007 to 1,139 in 2009. Declining sturgeon numbers could also be the result of decreased smelt and lamprey populations, which are part of sturgeon’s food cycle.
DFW officials acknowledge there are any number of factors or combinations of factors that could be prompting the decline in sturgeon numbers, or it could be just a temporary downturn, but there is no evidence that any one of them is the primary cause.
The Columbia Basin Fish and Wildlife Bulletin on Friday reported anglers at the meeting suggested a clamping down, and tighter monitoring of lower river commercial fisheries.
One angler suggested gill-netters may be releasing fish at the lower end of the legal range so that they can replace them with a larger, more profitable fish. Those larger fish are more valuable in the water, because they are near spawning age.
Another angler said commercial fisheries targeting sturgeon should be prohibited during the warm months of August and September when sub-legals and oversize fish are less likely to survive a bout with a gill-net.
-
River fishing might not be spectacular, but it’s not bad
River fishing wasn’t exactly spectacular on the west side of the state last week, but it wasn’t too bad. On several rivers, action was pretty good and catching was about the same.
-
Christmas in August will be blue until pinks arrive
I’ve been thinking about Christmas a lot lately.
-
Tom Bolender's fly fishing report for June 4
Most rivers in the state are opening on Saturday, and it’s free fishing weekend to boot.
TOP JOBS
-
Scheduler
Olympia OBGYN -
Spanish Faculty
Olympic College -
Office Manager
Mason General Hospital -
Surgical Technologist
Mason General Hospital -
Evaluation & Treatment Center Unit Program Manager
BHR
