Pdge 2
May 11, 2 0 0 6
Spilydy Tymoo, Wdrm Springs, Oregon
F ish fin a lly
return
After a long wait, fisher
man were glad to see the
spring Chinook salmon run
finally appear last week. Just
three weeks ago, fewer than
500 fish had crossed the fish
ladders at Bonneville Dam.
There was speculation
that the spring run this year
would be a complete disas
ter.
Then early last week more
fish finally appeared. On
Tuesday of that week close
to 2,500 fish crossed the lad
ders, bringing the total as of
that date to more than
12,038.
The increased numbers
meant the tribes were expect
ing to catch their allotment.
This was the second year
in a row that the fish waited
a long time before finally
going up past the dam: the
salmon apparently waiting
for some biological trigger to
send them up the stairstep
like ladders, past a counting
window and on their way
upriver. In recent years, the
run has been as low 42,000
in 1999 and as high as
438,000 in 2001.
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Mike Gauvin and Larry Holliday (top photo) of the Warm
Springs Fisheries Department bag a fresh-caught spring
Chinook for storage in tribal freezer. Stanley “Bear
Tracks” Simtustus (lower left photo) weighs spring
salmon for storage in tribal freezer (lower right).
month by the Pacific Fishery
Management Council.
Meanwhile, the agency is still
doing an economic analysis of
petitions from the governors of
California and Oregon and
members of Congress to de
clare a fishing disaster, which
would open the way for federal
aid to salmon fisherm en,
Ungerecht said.
However, NOAA Fisheries
has informed fishermen that
there is no money available for
disaster relief, said Dave Bitts, a
Eureka, Calif., salmon fisher
man and secretary of the Pacific
Coast Federation of fishermen’s
Associations. Similar petitions
for disaster relief last year were
denied.
“I don’t have kids to put
through college and my boat is
paid for, so I should be able to
survive this, but not everybody
will,” said Bitts. “We’re trying to
get enough fishing opportunity
for the shoreside businesses to
stay open. If they go belly up
then three or four years down
the road when there are fish to
Pikeminnows again
have a price on their heads
(AP) — The N orthern
Pikeminnow, the scourge of
Columbia River salmon runs,
has a price on its head again this
year.
The Northern Pikeminnow
Management Program will pay
from $4 to $8 for each of the
predators delivered to stations
along the Columbia and Snake
rivers.
The program began last week
on the Columbia River below
the John Day Dam and will start
May 15 for the upstream reaches
to Priest Rapids Dam in central
Washington and to Hells Can
yon Dam on the Snake River in
Idaho. The season closes Oct.
1.
Mature pikeminnow thrive
on juvenile salmon, and fishing
has removed about 2.7 million
of them since 1990, including
nearly 300,000 last year.
The Bonneville Power Ad
ministration says the program
has cut juvenile salmon losses to
prey by 25 percent.
The first 100 bring $4 each.
The next 300 are worth $5 each.
After 400 are turned in, they’re
worth $8 each.
_ i pm
__
C leaner
Agency approves reduced salmon seasons
(AP) — NOAA Fisheries gave
formal approval last month to
sharply reduced commercial
salmon fishing seasons off Or
egon and California to protect
struggling returns of wild fall
chinook salmon in the Klamath
River.
The agency said the reduced
seasons will produce about 40
percent of the fish normally
caught by salmon trollers on the
West Coast, but salmon fisher
men maintain that in the 700-
mile stretch of Oregon and
Northern California most se
verely affected the catch will be
10 percent of a traditional
spring to fall season.
There is no commercial fish
ing on 400 miles of coast strad
dling the mouth of the Klamath
and strictly limited fishing on
another 300 miles. Recreational
fishing was also cut back, but
not so severely.
NOAA Fisheries spokesman
Todd Ungerecht said the emer
gency rule approved by the
agency closely followed the sea-
sons approved earlier this
¿a sr
To sweeten the deal, specially
tagged fish are worth $500 each.
Top earners have made
nearly $35,000 in a season. The
BPA says the average is several
hundred dollars.
Eligible fish must be at least
9 inches long and have been
caught in the Columbia River
between the mouth and Priest
Rapids Dam or in the Snake
river between the mouth and
Hells Canyon Dam.
Participants must register
daily at a registration station
each day prior to fishing. The
catch must be turned in daily,
and vouchers are issued for
qualified fish.
The pikeminnows are used
for liquid organic fertilizer, and
as fish meal in livestock feed.
Information about where to
find northern pikeminnow, how
to fish for them and how to
qualify for the bounty is avail
able from the Washington Sport
Reward Hot Line at (800) 858-
9015.
For voucher information, call
(800) 769-9362 or (503) 595-
3297 in Portland.
catch it won’t do us any good.”
Since 2000, commercial har
vests on the West Coast have
averaged over 700,000 Chinook
annually, and last year landings
in Oregon and California were
worth $36.3 million.
This is the third straight year
that returns of wild chinook
salmon to the Klamath have
been projected below the mini
mum of 35,000 set in manage
ment plans, and next, year is
looking no better.
Seasons were reduced some
what last year, and there had
been fears salmon fishing would
be cut off on the entire West
Coast this year, but federal bi
ologists estimated that the re
duced seasons would allow
21,000 wild chinook to return,
enough to keep the run going.
Members of Congress from
Oregon and California have in
troduced legislation to provide
$81 million in aid for fishermen,
tribes and related businesses, as
well as $45 million to restore
habitat on the Klamath River.
P A
\ r p ro s km . h i s
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