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Chum Salmon reintroduced into the Columbia River

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Chum salmon, long considered to be almost extinct on the Oregon side of the lower Columbia River, might again return to its tributaries if a cooperative effort of the Oregon and Washington departments of fish and wildlife proves successful.

The first week of April, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife (ODFW) released 106,000 juvenile chum salmon into lower Big Creek in the first phase of project attempting to re-establish the species, which began to disappear from the Oregon side of the river more than 50 years ago. While the reason for their decline is not completely clear, biologists believe that severe habitat degradation, among other factors, played a key role. Click here to read more…

OR bumps up hatchery steelie limit

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Hatchery STeelie
Record numbers of steelhead returning to the Snake River system has prompted Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to increase the bag limit for adipose fin-clipped steelhead in several northeast Oregon waters.

Beginning on Sunday, October 18, the bag limit for adipose fin-clipped steelhead will increase from three to five fish per day and will remain in effect through April 15, 2010 in the following areas:

* Grande Ronde River from the Oregon/Washington state line to the mouth of the Wallowa River;
* Wallowa River from the mouth to Trout Creek; and,
* Imnaha River from the mouth to Big Sheep Creek.

In the Snake River from the Oregon/Washington state line to the angling deadline below Hell’s Canyon Dam, the bag limit will be five adipose fin-clipped steelhead of which no more than three may be 32-inches total length or greater. The states of Idaho and Washington have implemented similar regulations in the Snake River and tributaries.

The June 1 through October 10 count of steelhead at lower Granite Dam is over 230,000 this year, about double the 10-year average. With such a large run in the Snake River, managers expect abundant hatchery steelhead to return to trapping facilities on the Wallowa River, Little Sheep Creek (Imnaha basin), and at Hell’s Canyon Dam on the Snake River.

“We expect a very good fishery this year,” said Bill Knox, ODFW fish biologist in Enterprise. “There will be plenty of fish and we encourage anglers to keep adipose fin-clipped, hatchery steelhead to help reduce the potential interactions with ESA-listed wild steelhead in these waters. Retention of adipose fin-clipped hatchery steelhead will also help reduce surplus returns to hatchery trapping facilities next spring.”

Anglers are still required to record steelhead on their combined angling tags and follow all other regulations contained in the Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations.