OPINION
6A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 2017
Founded in 1873
DAVID F. PERO, Publisher & Editor
LAURA SELLERS, Managing Editor
BETTY SMITH, Advertising Manager
JEREMY FELDMAN, Circulation Manager
DEBRA BLOOM, Business Manager
JOHN D. BRUIJN, Production Manager
CARL EARL, Systems Manager
OUR VIEW
A welcome return
for white sturgeon
fter a three-year moratorium on keeping white stur-
geon caught between the mouth of the Columbia River
and Bonneville Dam, a modest retention season started
this week. Though initial catches have been slow as might be
expected considering the river’s clouded spring waters, local
anglers are happy to see some progress toward a return to nor-
mal for this important fishery.
Columbia white sturgeon venture out into the nearby ocean
and even into Willapa Bay, but are formally considered a
freshwater fish — the largest in North America. They can live
more than a century and have become legendary among fish-
ermen for their strength and size, with old sturgeon sometimes
weighing hundreds of pounds. The much younger and smaller
ones that anglers are permitted to keep — only 44 to 50 inches
from snout to the fork in the tail — are locally renowned as
one of the most delicious fish.
Like many other species, white sturgeon are struggling
with habitat loss and deteriorating environmental conditions.
During the drought year of 2015, for example, 80 breeding-age
sturgeon died in the vicinity of Bonneville — possibly vic-
tims of too-warm water or perhaps harmful changes in water
oxygen levels. Steller sea lions also have multiplied and found
their way into sturgeon holes, exerting considerable hunting
pressure. Fleeing predators disrupts the sturgeons’ breeding
patterns.
There also is little doubt that human fishing pressures
played a role in sturgeon declines that led to the 2014 morato-
rium. When salmon numbers plunged in the 1990s, private and
charter fishing heavily switched to sturgeon with an enthusi-
asm it was easy to foresee would lead to trouble.
We now are in the rebound period. Fortunately, state con-
servation measures appear to be succeeding, with an estimated
165,600 legal-size sturgeon in the river below Bonneville, up
from 147,000 last year and 72,700 in 2012. Fishery manag-
ers have set an extremely conservative 3,000-sturgeon catch
limit in the ongoing season — disappointing but much better
than no season at all. The middling-sized sturgeon fishermen
are allowed to keep generate a lot of economic activity for
Columbia estuary ports, merchants and charter operations.
A study funded by the Bonneville Power Administration
starting in 2000 has found female sturgeon do not sexually
mature until they’re at least 18 to 32 years old and only spawn
about once every three years. Although not ideal fishing condi-
tions, biologists have learned spawning success is best during
high-flow years when the river creates turbulence over rough
substrate or rocky-river bottoms — so this winter’s intense
rain and deep mountain snows may have a silver lining in
future years in terms of producing young sturgeon.
Sturgeon are in trouble worldwide and caution is obviously
warranted when it comes to harvest and stress. In this gloomy
picture, the Columbia actually is something of a bright spot,
with a 2015 estimate of up to 1 million white sturgeon of all
ages from Bonneville to the river’s mouth. It is especially
important to protect breeding fish age 18-plus — they are vital
to the species’ future. “It’s a resource that’s not replaceable,”
a scientist observed in 2015. “Those big spawners, we know
how valuable they really are.”
Continuing proactive management of sea lion popula-
tions is clearly justified. Although the idea is repellent to
avid animal-right activists, their numbers are out of propor-
tion to available prey in the Columbia River as it exists today.
Responsible wildlife management means adjusting sea lion
numbers to match their niche in what is now an inherently
human-centric environment.
Sturgeon are well suited to hatchery propagation. The states
should begin such a program. Fishery managers are being
careful about sturgeon. This is understandable, even if dis-
appointing. But they must begin being more bold in enact-
ing long-term plans for viability of these ancient and treasured
fish.
A
GUEST COLUMN
Salmon restoration funding
supports our rural economies
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Commercial fisherman Richie Williams of Astoria tosses spring salmon from his gillnet boat in May 2010
on the docks at the Astoria Yacht Club.
By GLENN LAMB
Special to The Daily Astorian
he Pacific Northwest is
salmon country.
On the Lower Colum-
bia River and Pacific Coast, salmon
and steelhead are key to our way of
life, anchoring coastal economies,
ecosystems and culture. Today, as
for generations, commercial and
sport fishermen feed their families
and support communities through
salmon harvest.
Salmon restoration efforts sup-
port the fishing industry, but also
benefit other species, make our
water cleaner and reduce the risk of
costly floods. In short, when we pro-
tect salmon, we bolster our commu-
nities and our environment.
The Pacific Coastal Salmon
Recovery Fund is managed by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. The agency works
with states and tribes to invest in
salmon and steelhead recovery work
in Alaska, Washington state, Ore-
gon, California and Idaho, contrib-
uting $1.2 billion since 2000 and
leveraging $1.4 billion in matching
funds. The $215 million invested in
Oregon alone leverages $330 mil-
lion of state Lottery funds, bring-
ing the total to protect and enhance
salmon to $545 million.
This is truly an investment, and
one that provides returns.
Recreational fishing alone gen-
erates about $500 million annually
in Oregon, creating 16,500 jobs, and
commercial salmon fishing creates
over $16 million annually and more
than 900 jobs.
In addition to fishing, invest-
T
The Daily Astorian/File Photo
Glenn Lamb, executive director of the Columbia Land Trust, speaks
at the Columbia Forum in 2015.
ing in the “restoration economy”
also makes good business sense.
According to the University of Ore-
gon, every $1 million spent on hab-
itat restoration creates 15 to 24
local jobs, and more than 90 cents
of every dollar stays in Oregon
communities.
The salmon recovery grant
program supports locally driven
actions, not regulatory directives.
With the help of watershed coun-
cils, soil and water conservation
districts and land trusts, landown-
ers and local communities plant
trees, replace impassable culverts
and restore streambanks. Cuts to
this program would be a devastat-
ing setback for a citizen-led effort to
restore healthy salmon runs
in Oregon.
Without continued investment
like the recovery fund, salmon
recovery in the Northwest will stall,
hurting the economies and com-
munities supported by salmon fish-
ing in the long term. We hope you’ll
join us in asking Congress to con-
tinue to support the recovery of our
salmon.
Glenn Lamb is the executive
director of Columbia Land Trust
based in Vancouver, Washing-
ton, with offices in Hood River and
Astoria. A nonprofit organization,
Columbia Land Trust conserves
and cares for the vital lands, waters
and wildlife of the Columbia River
region through sound science and
strong relationships.
LETTERS WELCOME
Luke Whittaker/EO Media Group
Crew from Sea Breeze Charters in Ilwaco, Washington, unload
sturgeon after a successful opener Monday.
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