Spring chinook fishing closed in Clearwater Basin No summer season is planned in drainage except for Lochsa River By ERIC BARKER of the Lewiston Tribune Idaho fisheries managers pulled the plug on spring fishing in the Clearwater Basin on Monday after giving the beleaguered season a brief second life. The four-day-a-week season on sections […]
Spring Chinook At Bonneville Dam, the spring Chinook run ended on May 31st. The run started late due to river conditions and never fully recovered. The final number of adults across the dam was 83,624. This is a 39% reduction from last year and a 44% reduction from the 10 year average. Summer […]
HR 2083 “Endangered Salmon and Fisheries Predation Prevention Act” On June 8th, 2017, a legislative hearing was held regarding HR 2083. The purpose of this bill is to amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to reduce predation on endangered Columbia River salmon and other nonlisted species, and for other purposes. It was introduced […]
‘Most’ everything in this article is correct, except that the conclusion is wrong. It was written by the Washington State Chapter of the Sierra Club. Too much spill kills salmon and the incremental benefit to more spill is minimal at this point. If we want robust, economically thriving river communities, wild salmon for future generations […]
2017 Incidents at Little Goose Dam on the Lower Snake River A short summary of issues jeopardizing salmon recovery since April 11th Incident #1 On April 11th, the first juvenile salmon and steelhead deaths at Little Goose Lock and Dam were reported. This was the day after the lock was finally returned to service after […]
CHINOOK SALMON As of 5/25/17, the current and recent past counts of Spring Chinook Salmon that have completed passage of Bonneville dam and entered the Columbia River system are: 2017: 69,046 2016: 128,949 10 yr avg: 141,414 As a result of the extremely low returns this year, Washington State fisheries managers have closed fishing on the […]
Washington, Oregon mull rolling closures, while Idaho adopts wait-and-see policy By ERIC BARKER of the Lewiston Tribune Washington and Oregon are poised to implement rolling closures of the steelhead fishery from the mouth of the Columbia River to the mouth of the Snake this summer and fall in an attempt to protect the dismal B-run, […]
Chinook A total of 5,059 spring Chinook salmon have crossed Lower Granite Dam as of 5/25/17. In 2016, a total of 42,093 had passed by now. The ten year average on this date is 43,019. Steelhead A total of 7,291 steelhead have crossed as of 5/25/17. These are fish that spent the winter in-river. In 2016, a […]
IDFG sets chinook season closures Only fishing in Hells Canyon will remain open By ERIC BARKER of the Lewiston Tribune Idaho’s spring chinook season will end early on the Clearwater, Salmon and Little Salmon rivers but continue on the Snake River in Hells Canyon. State fisheries officials determined Monday the closures are needed to guard […]
Three recent Letters to the Editor in the Lewiston Tribune have supported the breaching of the four lower Snake River dams. Citizens are having visions of a thriving economy based on a revitalized riverfront, recovered fish stocks, and 140 additional miles of free-flowing Snake River. Local economic growth has been lagging behind other areas of […]