For the fourth year in a row, recreational retention of white sturgeon in the Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam and in the Willamette River will remain closed, although catch and release angling is likely this year. The continued closure is due to a declining abundance of legal-sized fish and a juvenile abundance that is the lowest level on record, according to a joint staff report released this week by the states of Oregon and Washington.

Although sturgeon retention will open upstream of Bonneville, the season is unlikely to start before February in the Bonneville and The Dalles pools. The John Day pool closed to retention of the giant fish Jan. 9 after anglers reached 96 percent of the pool’s harvest guideline, closing with a catch of 101 fish.

At a November hearing last year, the two-state Columbia River Compact nixed a New Years Day opening for the popular recreational white sturgeon fishery in the Bonneville and The Dalles Dam pools and put the opening off until later in the winter. By delaying the opening day to later in the winter when water cools, fishery managers expect catch rates to drop, increasing the likelihood that the fishery could remain open longer.

In past years the Jan. 1 opening had resulted in high angling effort, high catch rates and very short seasons as anglers quickly fish through sturgeon harvest guidelines for the two pools.
Sturgeon anglers should also be aware that a sturgeon retention fishery is not planned this year in the lower river downstream of Bonneville Dam, as population monitoring continues to find low numbers of legal-size fish.

Columbia River white sturgeon populations are not federally-protected under the federal Endangered Species Act, but they are subject to the management authority of the two-state Columbia River Compact. The Columbia River treaty tribes have authority to regulate treaty fisheries.

The Compact released the 2026 Joint Staff Report Concerning Stock Status and Fisheries for White Sturgeon Jan. 21 (2026 STURGEON JOINT STAFF REPORT). The report is a product of the Joint Columbia River Management Staff, which includes the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, Nez Perce Tribe, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon and Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakima Nation.

The report painted a gloomy picture of the current white sturgeon population in the lower Columbia. It says that fish in the lower Columbia River are continuing a multi-year low trend of depressed abundance. Legal-sized fish (38–54 inches fork length) have dropped to about 90,100 fish. That is mostly driven by reduced recruitment into the smaller portion of the legal-size range, with the lower sub-class (38–43 inches FL) now comprising only about one-third of legal-size fish, the report says.

And, juvenile sturgeon abundance reached its lowest level on record in 2025 at less than 23 percent of the entire white sturgeon population, well below conservation thresholds, indicating a severe recruitment concern.

In addition, the report says that young-of- year monitoring in 2025 detected no recruitment in either the lower Columbia or lower

Willamette rivers, also raising concerns about further declines in population productivity. “While adult (spawning-size) sturgeon abundance remains above desired conservation thresholds in recent years, the current overall population structure reflects an aging population with limited near-term potential to rebuild legal-size abundance without improved recruitment,” the report concludes.

Still, catch and release sturgeon angling was open in the lower rivers in 2025, with anglers making 2,503 trips on the lower Columbia River and releasing 7,241 white sturgeon. Some 1,599 trips were made by anglers in the lower Willamette River with 3,034 white sturgeon released.

The stock status of white sturgeon upstream of Bonneville Dam is a mixed bag. In the John Day pool legal-sized sturgeon abundance (43–54 inches FL) rose to the highest level in recent history, according to the report. The 2025 stock assessment in the John Day Pool estimated a total population of 31,159 fish. However, sublegal fish declined sharply, with an 84 percent drop in fish less than 38 inches fork length.
Young-of-year surveys show extremely poor recruitment in the John Day pool, with only one year of detectable recruitment since 2012.
“This recruitment pattern reflects broader system-wide trends, as recruitment in Bonneville and The Dalles pools has also been depressed in recent years, with the 2025 Age-0 index in Bonneville at its lowest since 2015 and similarly low levels observed in The Dalles.”

2025 White Sturgeon Catch

Treaty Fisheries: Winter setline fisheries with slot limits of 38–54 inches in the Bonneville pool and 43–54 inches in The Dalles and John Day pools produced a total commercial harvest of about 1,600 sturgeon. Summer and late-fall fisheries were not pursued due to limited balances of fish remaining from the harvest guidelines. The Treaty commercial harvest was 79 percent of the guideline in Bonneville Pool, 67 percent in The Dalles Pool and 34 percent in John Day Pool.

Non-Treaty Recreational Fisheries upstream of Bonneville Dam: All recreational sturgeon retention fisheries in the three pools upstream of Bonneville Dam began January 1, but with different operations and different closures. The Bonneville and The Dalles pools were open two-days-per-week to manage the high effort in those pools, while the John Day Pool remained open seven days per week.

Extremely high effort and catch rates in the Bonneville pool resulted in 1,365 fish harvested on opening day, exceeding the 1,250 fish guideline and prompting immediate closure.

The Dalles pool experienced lower effort but still a high opening-day harvest rate, leading to a closure after one-day followed by limited February openings that resulted in a season total of 260 fish, or 95 percent of the guideline.

In John Day Pool, effort and catch rates were similar to recent years, with retention closing March 13 after 94 fish, or 90 percent of the guideline, were harvested over a 72-day season.

2026 White Sturgeon Expectations

Treaty Fisheries: The report says the Columbia River tribes took action in December 2025 to modify the January fishery for 2026, opting for a later start, reducing the number of days open and delaying the start of the Bonneville Pool fishery until after The Dalles and John Day pools are scheduled to close.

Setline fisheries are more likely to occur than gillnet fisheries in February and March. Openings will likely be staggered in the winter season so that actual and projected catches can be assessed.

Non-Treaty Recreational Fisheries: The states adopted rule changes in November 2025 that will close retention fisheries by default in Bonneville and The Dalles pools starting in 2026, with the intent to consider limited winter fisheries when effort and catch rates are lower. John Day Pool has shown more stable harvest patterns and lower risk of exceeding guidelines, so regulations there were aligned between Washington and Oregon to open seven days per week, starting January 1, with updated guidelines to be reviewed in 2026. The John Day pool fishery has since closed after anglers reached the pool’s catch guideline.

For background, see:

— CBB, November 22, 2025, Harvest Managers Delay Popular New Year’s Day Sturgeon Fishing Opening In Bonneville, Dalles Dam Pools To Extend Fishing Days, Harvest Managers Delay Popular New Year’s Day Sturgeon Fishing Opening In Bonneville, Dalles Dam Pools To Extend Fishing Days – Columbia Basin Bulletin

— CBB, October 24, 2025, Hells Canyon White Sturgeon In Decline: Higher Spill, Lower Flows, Invasive Predators, Changes To Food Supply,Hells Canyon White Sturgeon In Decline: Higher Spill, Lower Flows, Invasive Predators, Changes To Food Supply – Columbia Basin Bulletin

— CBB, March 15, 2025, Fishery Managers Close John Day Pool For Sturgeon Retention As Anglers Reach Harvest Guideline, No Lower River Retention This Year, Fishery Managers Close John Day Pool For Sturgeon Retention As Anglers Reach Harvest Guideline, No Lower River Retention This Year – Columbia Basin Bulletin

— CBB, November 18, 2024, States Set 2025 Columbia River Sturgeon Retention Seasons; Expect High Effort, Short Seasons, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/states-set-2025-columbia-river-sturgeon-retention-seasons-expect-high-effort-short-seasons/

— CBB, January 5, 2024, Sturgeon Fishing Too Good; Retention Closes From Bonneville Dam To John Day Dam, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/sturgeon-fishing-too-good-retention-closes-from-bonneville-dam-to-john-day-dam/

— CBB, November 3, 2023, STATES SET COLUMBIA RIVER WINTER STURGEON ANGLING TIMES, RULES ABOVE BONNEVILLE DAM BASED ON RECENT STOCK ASSESSMENTS, https://cbbulletin.com/states-set-columbia-river-winter-sturgeon-angling-times-rules-above-bonneville-dam-based-on-recent-stock-assessments/

–CBB, Nov. 11, 2022, STATES SET 2023 WHITE STURGEON FISHING SEASON ON PORTIONS OF COLUMBIA RIVER WITH A DAYS-PER-WEEK APPROACH, https://cbbulletin.com/states-set-2023-white-sturgeon-fishing-season-on-portions-of-columbia-river-with-a-days-per-week-approach/