Summer/fall fishing regulations adopted for Buoy 10, Columbia River

Published 11:58 am Tuesday, May 17, 2016

At its April 22 meeting in Bandon, Oregon, the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted cautious regulations, timing and limits for summer and fall seasons on salmon fishing in state waters in the ocean, and Buoy 10 in the Columbia River upstream to the Oregon and Washington state border.

The commission opted for the cautious approach for all salmon fishing this year as a result of expected poor coho salmon runs predicted by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (www.pcouncil.org), even though runs of Chinook salmon are again expected to be strong.

The PFMC on April 14 adopted ocean salmon seasons for recreational and commercial catch along the West Coast. It had to balance good runs of Chinook salmon expected in the Columbia River with poor runs of Puget Sound and Columbia River coho salmon, as well as expected poor runs of Klamath and Sacramento river Chinook.

Ultimately, the PFMC opted for protecting the expected poor runs of coho salmon.

Recreational and commercial fishing in Puget Sound may remain closed as the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Puget Sound tribes work towards a compromise on a season.

Recreational summer Chinook salmon fishing off the Oregon coast begins June 16 and could remain open until July 31, with a daily bag limit of two hatchery Chinook salmon. The Oregon Commission says a hatchery fish is a salmon, steelhead or trout from which the adipose fin has been removed (clipped) leaving a healed scar (also known as adipose fin-clipped).

The fall salmon season, with a projection for fall Chinook of 960,000 fish to the mouth of the Columbia River, will open Labor Day at Buoy 10 in the river’s mouth, plus two additional days from Tongue Point near Astoria to Warrior Rock near St. Helens. Impacts to ESA-listed Chinook stocks remain the major constraint for all fall season Lower Columbia River fisheries, the commission said.

“Based on the performance of the last several years, we anticipate a very productive Buoy 10 fishery,” said Chris Kern, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife deputy administrator for Columbia and Marine programs. “By implementing mark-selective Chinook regulations on Sundays and Mondays throughout the Buoy 10 season we hope to reduce the chance of an emergency closure.”

Given the limitation on Upriver Bright fall Chinook, the area upstream of Warrior Rock will have the traditional two adult Chinook per day bag limit for the 2016 season. The 2016 forecast for the upper Columbia River is 93,000 fish, a strong return, but less than the modern record of 127,000 upriver fish last year, the commission said.

Summer steelhead forecasts in 2016 remain low, and to avoid closures, daily bag limits may need to be reduced at times and in some areas to keep steelhead opportunities open through the season.

Oregon and Washington staff will closely monitor the fishery and if possible, may propose removing the adipose-only requirement later in the season, according to information from the Oregon Commission. In-season modifications to the regulations can be found on the ODFW website at tinyurl.com/Fishing-Reg-Changes.

Fall season modifications are:

• Buoy 10 — Retention of adult Chinook allowed Aug. 1 through Sept. 5 (Labor Day), but only adipose fin-clipped Chinook may be harvested on Sundays and Mondays during this period.

• Tongue Point upstream to Warrior Rock — Two any Chinook retention days added Sept. 8 and 9.

The “boat limit” rule will be in place from Buoy 10 upstream to the Oregon/Washington border. Salmon anglers fishing from the same boat may continue fishing until all licensed anglers have reached their daily limits.

For summer Chinook and sockeye salmon and steelhead, fishing is closed downstream of the Astoria-Megler Bridge June 16 to July 31, but is open upstream of the bridge to the Oregon/Washington border during the same period for retention of sockeye, hatchery adult and jack Chinook, and hatchery steelhead, but is closed for coho salmon. The daily bag limit is two adults and five jacks.

The Buoy 10 fishery up to Tongue Point is more complicated:

• Aug. 1 through Dec. 31, retention of hatchery coho (16 inches or longer) and hatchery steelhead.

• Aug. 1 through Sept. 5, retention of Chinook (24-inches or longer), but is restricted to hatchery fish Sundays and Mondays (Aug. 1, 7-8, 14-15, 21-22, 28-29, and Sept. 4-5), with a daily bag limit of two fish (only one Chinook).

• Sept. 6 through 30, retention of Chinook prohibited, with a daily bag limit of two hatchery coho or steelhead.

• Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, retention of Chinook allowed, with a daily bag limit of two Chinook and five Chinook or coho jacks.

From Tongue Point to Warrior Rock:

• Aug. 1 through Dec. 31, retention of hatchery coho and steelhead allowed.

• Aug. 1 through Sept. 9, retention of Chinook allowed, with a daily bag limit of two salmonids (only one Chinook) and five jacks.

• Sept. 10 through 14, restricted to hatchery fish, with a daily bag limit of two salmonids (only one Chinook) and five jacks.

• Sept. 15 through 30, retention of Chinook adults and jacks prohibited, with a daily bag limit of two hatchery coho or steelhead, and five coho jacks.

• Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, retention of any Chinook allowed, with a daily bag limit of two adult salmonids and five jacks.