Extending the Columbia Springer Fishery Again???

[Nelly]

Here's the Compact fact sheet in all of it's gory detail...

This is the info, presented today that the decision will be made to potentially extend this season... I will post the announcement if and when it comes!

Note that the staff recommendation is to extend the season one more week from April 16th to April 22nd.

OREGON AND WASHINGTON DEPARTMENTS OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
JOINT STAFF REPORT: SPRING FACT SHEET NO. 1
Columbia River Joint State Hearing
April 14, 2011
Fisheries under Consideration:
Recreational salmon downstream of Bonneville Dam
Water Conditions

During April 1-12, discharge at Bonneville Dam averaged 338 kcfs, including about 111 kcfs in spill. The discharge peaked at 390 kcfs on April 5 and dropped to 303 kcfs by April 13. The 5-year average discharge for April 14 is 217 kcfs. River stage is currently at 10.0 feet with a predicted rise to 11.4 feet by April 18.

Bonneville Dam discharge is predicted to average 266 kcfs from April 16-22 and 274 kcfs from April 23-30. Water visibility is 2.0 feet compared to 4.0 feet on April 1. The 5-year average visibility for this date is 4.7 feet.

Water temperature was 47° F on April 12. Spring water temperatures have been colder than both the 5- and 10-year averages.
Stock Status

Bonneville Dam passage of Chinook through April 13 totals 864 adults. Based on the recent 5-year average, which includes four late-timed years, passage is typically about 2% (range 0.1% to 4%) complete on April 13. The 10-year average completion percentage is 8% (range 0.1% to 32%).

The 5-year average 50% passage date is May 8; therefore it is difficult to make accurate conclusions regarding run size at this time.

Indicators for the upriver run strength are mixed; negative indicators include the low cumulative Bonneville Dam count and low catch rates in the lower river sport fishery to date. Positive indicators include a high proportion of upriver fish in non-Indian catch since early February and the improved catch rate from test fishing and ongoing research activities.
Treaty Fishery Update

The ongoing treaty fisheries include ceremonial permit gillnet fisheries, Zone 6 platform and hook and line subsistence fisheries, and hook and line fisheries downstream of Bonneville Dam.

The tribes have not authorized commercial sales of spring Chinook at this time.

The estimated catch in the combined tribal fisheries to date is 250 spring Chinook.
Lower Columbia River Recreational Fishery

The Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam closed as scheduled for Chinook retention effective Tuesday April 5. Through April 4, the kept and release mortality for upriver fish was estimated at 3,820 fish, or 49% of the 7,750 available.

Given the large remaining balance of upriver fish, the States re-opened the fishery for eight additional days from Friday April 8 through Friday April 15 under the same structure and regulations as the initial fishery.
* Includes projection for April 14-15 ** Projections if season was extended beyond April 15

Projected total catch for April 8-15 is 1,732 Chinook, with an estimated 1,362 kept, and a total upriver catch (kept and release mortalities) of 767 fish. This brings the total upriver catch in the lower river fishery to 4,587 fish, or 59% of the 7,750 available.

The estimated total upriver catch (kept and release mortalities) in all non-Indian fisheries through Friday April 15 is 6,323 (55% of the 11,257 available at the buffered pre-season run size).
Including completed and planned fisheries, the expected season total of upriver catch (kept and release mortalities) in all non-Indian fisheries 8,184 fish (71% of the 11,527 available at
2
3
the buffered preseason run size). This includes projected catch in the lower river recreational fishery through April 15.

At a minimum upriver run size of 109,000 Chinook, the 8,184 total upriver impacts in non-Indian fisheries would meet the catch balancing provisions of the US v Oregon Management Agreement.
Recommendation: 2011 Mainstem Columbia River Spring Chinook Recreational Fishery
Downstream of Bonneville Dam
Season: Extend the ongoing fishery from Saturday April 16 through Friday April 22, 2011 (7days).

Area: Buoy 10 upstream to Rooster Rock (boat and bank) plus bank angling only from Rooster Rock upstream to Bonneville Dam
Two adult salmonids per day, but only one may be a Chinook
Catch limit:
Only adipose fin-clipped fish may be kept. All other permanent regulations apply.
Additional regulations:

Effective through June 15, 2011 for the mainstem Columbia River salmon and steelhead fishery from the Rocky Point/Tongue Point line upstream to OR/WA border, it is unlawful when fishing from vessels which are less than 30 feet in length (substantiated by Coast Guard documentation or Marine Board registration) to totally remove from the water any salmon or steelhead required to be released.

In Washington, on the mainstem Columbia River below Bonneville Dam, anglers may not possess in the field fish mutilated so that size, species or fin clip cannot be determined until the angler has reached their automobile or principle means of land transportation and has completed their daily angling.

Effective through May 15, 2011, the mainstem Columbia River will be open for retention of adipose fin-clipped steelhead and shad ONLY during days and seasons open for retention of adipose fin-clipped spring Chinook.

Effective through June 15, 2011, on days when the mainstem Columbia River recreational fishery below Bonneville Dam is open to retention of Chinook, the salmonid daily bag limit in Oregon and Washington Select Areas will be the same as mainstem Columbia River bag limits. On days when the mainstem Columbia River fishery is closedto Chinook retention, permanent salmonid bag limit regulations apply.

If the lower river recreational fishery was extended through April 22, the expected season total catch of upriver Chinook (kept and release mortalities) would be 9,928 fish, or 86% of the 11,527 available at the buffered preseason run size.

At a minimum upriver run size of 119,600 Chinook, the 9,928 total upriver catch in non-Indian fisheries would meet the catch balancing provisions of the US v Oregon Management Agreement.

[Ray G]

Word from the meeting today is that we are going to see an extension through Tuesday, April 19.

[Nelly]

Thanks Ray,
That would take me out of the equation for heading back down there... which, given the state of the fishery down there is not entirely a bad thing...

[Nelly]

Here's the official news release on the extended extension...

April 15, 2011

Spring chinook fishery extended again
on the lower Columbia River
OLYMPIA - Columbia River anglers will have four more days to catch hatchery-reared spring chinook salmon below Bonneville Dam, where tough fishing conditions have held this year's catch below expected levels since late last month.

Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon agreed Thursday to extend the season through April 19 to give anglers more time to reach the initial harvest guideline set at the beginning of the season.

The additional four days of fishing will follow on the heels of an eight-day extension previously approved through April 15.

Cindy LeFleur, Columbia River policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), said test fisheries have found relatively high concentrations of spring chinook salmon in the lower river, but water conditions have slowed their passage over Bonneville Dam and made them hard to catch with a hook and line.

"Anglers have been catching fish in some areas of the lower river, but turbid, high-water conditions have put a damper on overall catch rates," LeFleur said. "Visibility underwater is about two feet, so the fish have a hard time seeing anglers' lures."

Through April 15, lower-river anglers are projected to have caught and kept a total of 5,900 spring chinook, including 4,600 upriver fish that count toward the 7,700-fish harvest guideline.

This year's harvest guideline for the lower river fisheries is based on a projected return of 198,400 upriver fish, minus a 30 percent "buffer" to guard against overestimating the run. Based on the estimated catch through April 19, the fishery will close with a buffer of approximately 43 percent, said Guy Norman, WDFW southwest regional director.

"After this extension, we don't anticipate making any changes in the season until more fish pass over the dam and we can update the run-size forecast," Norman said. "We want to give lower-river anglers a chance to catch some more fish, but we also have to make sure we can meet our conservation objectives and our obligations to upriver fisheries."

The fishery affected by the extension ranges from Buoy 10 upriver to Rooster Rock for boat and bank anglers, and to the fishing boundary below Bonneville Dam for bank anglers only. When the fishery is open, anglers can retain one marked, hatchery-reared adult chinook salmon as part of their daily limit.

Anglers may also retain shad and hatchery-reared steelhead when the spring chinook fishery is open. However, all wild salmon and steelhead not marked as a hatchery fish by a clipped adipose fin must be released unharmed.

The fishing extension does not affect the spring chinook season above Bonneville Dam, which will be reviewed at a joint-state hearing April 20. That fishery is open seven days a week through April 24 between the Tower Island powerlines below The Dalles Dam and the Washington/Oregon state line, 17 miles upriver from McNary Dam. Bank fishing is also allowed from Bonneville Dam upriver to the powerlines located about 6 miles below The Dalles Dam through April 24.

Anglers fishing above Bonneville Dam can retain up to two marked, hatchery-reared adult chinook salmon or hatchery steelhead as part of their daily limit.