Following a recent die-off of fall chinook salmon in the Wilson River, excessive pre-spawn mortality of fall chinook in other nearby rivers has prompted fishery managers to close the entire North Coast to all salmon angling, effective Dec. 13 – 31.
A recent die-off of fall Chinook salmon in the Wilson River on the Oregon coast near Tillamook has prompted fishery managers to close the river to all salmon angling, effective Dec. 7 – 31.
Low steelhead returns mean no steelhead will be released into the Boise River for the first time in more than 20 years. It's an annual event that many anglers look forward to all year, but there aren't enough fish available at the trap in Hells Canyon to do it.
The Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies recently honored Idaho Fish and Game with the Ernest Thompson Seton Award for the agency’s research on the effects of air exposure on caught-and-released fish.
Idaho Department of Fish and Game says it is “well on its way to meeting broodstock goals” for steelhead at Snake, Salmon and Clearwater River hatcheries.
Oregon and Washington this week approved some of the last fall fishing of the year for commercial gillnetters and recreational anglers.
Two 7-foot long sturgeon were transported 190 miles from the Hagerman Fish Hatchery to the Snake River in Idaho Falls after spending the first 25 years of their life in a IDFG display pond, but these long-lived giants still have a long life ahead of them.
What some call the most unique fishing derby in the nation, the Seventh Annual CCA King of the Reach Live Capture Derby, aims to improve hatchery production through angler assistance this month on the Hanford Reach section of the Columbia River.
All steelhead fishing on the Clearwater River in Idaho will close Sunday because the number of returning adult hatchery fish is less than the number needed for broodstock
Earlier this year, the Washington Legislature passed Second Substitute House Bill 1579, which directed the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to “adopt rules to liberalize bag limits for bass, walleye, and channel catfish in all anadromous waters of the state in order to reduce the predation risk to salmon smolts.”
Fisheries managers are seeking public comments through Oct. 17 on a state proposal to reinstate a year-round fishing season on the Colville River in northeast Washington.
After reviewing harvest information, Oregon and Washington abruptly closed the Columbia River to fall chinook angling from Warrior Rock to Bonneville Dam as of 12:01 am, Sept. 6, when it became clear that nearly 10 percent more of the fish had been caught throughout the Columbia River than was allocated.
In a hearing this week (Thursday, Sept. 5), the two-state Columbia River Compact set two Saturdays later this month for recreational angling of white sturgeon from Wauna upstream to Bonneville Dam.
The federal approval for a Snake River basin fall chinook salmon plan has given the go-ahead for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game to open recreational angling in the Snake, Clearwater and Salmon rivers this week.
Due to lower forecasts of upriver summer steelhead, the Columbia River is closed to steelhead retention through September from the river’s mouth up to the John Day Dam. However, tributaries of the river remain open for steelhead fishing and retention, and in the Snake River and tributaries, fishing either is continuing, as it is in Idaho, although with a reduced bag limit, or just opening, as in tributaries of the Snake in Oregon, also with a reduced bag limit.
The Grant, Chelan and Douglas Public Utility Districts are contributing to an effort by tribes and state agencies to control Northern Pike, a voracious predator that, if not contained, could set back decades of salmon recovery efforts across the Pacific Northwest.
As of Aug. 24, Oregon will open the river from the Oregon and Washington border up to the Idaho Power dam for a fall chinook run that is anticipated to be 349,700 fish at the Columbia River mouth, which is 47 percent of the 10-year average (2009-2018) of 737,720 adult fall chinook. Still, the forecast is higher than the 2018 actual return of 293,424.
With an anticipated low return of upriver steelhead – those that will cross Bonneville Dam – in the Columbia River this year, Oregon and Washington have taken steps to protect the listed fish.
The Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission last week approved moving forward on a request to the State Legislature to increase Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife funding.
Fall seasons and regulations were set for some treaty fishing and non-treaty commercial fishing in the lower Columbia River Basin, with the Oregon-Washington Columbia River Compact’s approval on Tuesday.
For the second year in a row, fishing for wild fall chinook salmon will be restricted in coastal rivers, due to poor escapement in 2018 and poor forecasted returns this year.
A recent study combined ecological analysis with the social sciences, identifying a critical link between fish abundance, angler behavior and management actions.
Steelhead anglers are asked to watch for tagged steelhead they might catch during the 2019-20 steelhead fishing seasons, and report tagged fish if they catch one.
The Public Power Council announced this week that Scott Simms has been selected as Executive Director, effective August 12. Simms will be the ninth Executive Director in the 53-year history of PPC.
Economists tasked with quantifying the costs of suppressing invasive northern pike in Lake Roosevelt as well as the costs to the region if the pike escaped Grand Coulee Dam and migrated downstream, risking recovery of the Columbia River basin’s threatened and endangered salmon and steelhead, indicated at a Northwest Power and Conservation Council meeting this week that available data is too sparse to adequately answer the questions.
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