The recent identification of the pathogen that causes whirling disease in a rainbow trout brought into Southwest Washington by a private landowner in Battleground (Clark County) highlights the importance of rules aimed at keeping diseased fish from being brought into the state, say Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials.

Washington said yes, and Oregon said no to additional Lower Columbia River mainstem commercial harvest opportunities in the near term after an unexpectedly high catch during a Monday-Tuesday outing that pushed gill-netters near their allowable upriver spring chinook impact limit for the year.

Organizations that have asked NOAA Fisheries to drop eight salmon and steelhead stocks from the Endangered Species Act have asked a federal court to order the agency to produce those decisions within 30 days.

A recent proposal to drain the lake and treat the remaining water to eliminate pikeminnows was ultimately rejected because of possible shortages of water for salmon flow augmentation releases out of the Payette River drainage.

The PFMC determines the annual exploitation or harvest rate for a mix of wild and hatchery fish in coastal areas out to 200 miles offshore. When it sets those quotas, it must keep fishing pressure to a minimum level for the weakest of the Columbia River and Puget Sound salmon stocks listed under the endangered species act.

Managers this week asked lower Columbia River gill-netters for better cooperation as the states of Oregon and Washington try to implement a complicated commercial fishing plan that aims to allow maximum harvest of hatchery-reared spring chinook salmon before reaching federally imposed impact limits on protected fish.

Last year's adult return of fall chinook salmon to the Columbia River exceeded everyone's expectations when 885,000 funneled up the river towards the Hanford Reach, the Snake River and hatcheries and spawning grounds elsewhere.

For the Sake of the Salmon’s Board of Directors has decided to gradually suspend operations and dissolve the non-profit corporation.

A press release announcing the decision says FSOS intends to conclude its project and grant activities and close the Portland, Oregon office, probably no later than June 1, 2004.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is planning to release smolts from its Spring Creek Hatchery upstream of Bonneville Dam in early March. This year, instead of providing a safe passage through the dam using spill, as has been done in past years, the hatchery fish will largely travel through the newly completed $50 million corner collector at the dam's second powerhouse.