Washington, Oregon officials seek 1-year sturgeon harvest

By Allen Thomas | The Vancouver Columbian • Published November 05, 2008

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State officials want to extend the expiring lower Columbia River sturgeon plan through 2009, giving Washington and Oregon biologists time to develop a long-term agreement addressing threats to the popular, slow-growing fish.

That would mean sportsmen in the estuary would be allowed to keep 16,000 sturgeon next year, while anglers between Wauna and Bonneville Dam would get 12,800. The commercial fleet would net 8,000.

There would be no rollovers of fish uncaught from the 2006-2008 agreement, which ends on Dec. 31, said Brad James, sturgeon biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Historically, Washington and Oregon have agreed on three-year plans establishing harvest guidelines, allocations and fishing frameworks.

However, both states are in the middle of planning processes involving sturgeon.

In 2008, Washington started a statewide sturgeon plan, which will include Willapa Bay, Grays Harbor, along with the mid- and upper Columbia. Oregon is developing a white sturgeon management and conservation plan for the lower Columbia.

Oregon's intent is to examine factors limiting the abundance and productivity of lower Columbia sturgeon and to identify gaps in data. A draft of the Oregon plan is due in April.

James said the intent for 2009 is a one-year Washington-Oregon harvest accord, while the other planning processes are completed.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission will be briefed on lower Columbia sturgeon on Friday and asked to adopt the one-year extension in December.

The population of legal-size (42 to 60 inches) sturgeon in the lower Columbia River appears stable, at least in the short term.

Each year, during late spring and early summer, sturgeon are tagged in the lower river. Tag recoveries are collected well into the following year, then an estimate of the population size is made, James said.

The preliminary estimate for 2007 is 131,700. That's up slightly from the estimate of 123,400 in 2006, but down slightly from 136,900 in 2005.

State biologists look more for trends in the population estimate than specific numbers.

And while the population seems stable, plenty of concerns remain.

Washington and Oregon's regulations are designed to increase the population of legal-size sturgeon, not just stay status quo, James said.

Yet that growth in the population does not appear to be happening.

Other concerns are the predation of oversize sturgeon by Steller sea lions, predation of sublegal and legal fish by California sea lions and a reduction in the catch rate of sublegals.

Complicating sturgeon management in the lower Columbia is the shift of the catch from the main river to the portion of the Willamette River downstream of Willamette Falls.

The catch downstream of Willamette Falls has jumped from 1,000 in 2005 to almost 7,000 this year.

"We think the fish are seeking out the Willamette if the Columbia is particularly cold,'' James said. "They go there for the warmer water.

Anglers have picked up on that and guides have moved in there. People figure out where the fish are biting pretty quickly.''