Moratorium continuing on sturgeon retention

Published 12:56 pm Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Nearly a quarter million harvest-size white sturgeon were estimated to live in the Lower Columbia last year, a 56 increase over 2015 and 71 percent more than in 2014, but fishery managers will continue a harvest moratorium in 2017.

An overview of white sturgeon status at the recent Oregon Fish and Wildlife Committee meeting in Tigard found that the relative abundance of juvenile and sub-legal sized fish, as well as continued young-of-year recruitment (newborns), was declining.

“Taken together, these signs point to ongoing low productivity over the last several years,” according to the presentation materials by Tucker Jones, Ocean Salmon and Columbia River program manager at ODFW, at the Feb. 12 commission meeting.

ODFW’s white sturgeon stock assessment estimated that over 500,000 white sturgeon larger than 21 inches in length resided in the Lower Columbia River downstream of Bonneville Dam in 2016. Of those, 223,960 were legally harvestable (38 to 54 inches). Or, they would be harvestable if not for a two-year moratorium on retaining the fish (catch and release only is allowed) in both the Lower Columbia and Lower Willamette rivers that was initiated by both Oregon and Washington in 2014.

The increase in the number of legal-sized fish in 2016 is 56 percent more than the number of sturgeon estimated to be in the lower reaches of the Columbia River in 2015 (143,840). Still that it is only 87 percent of the desired status listed in the Lower Columbia River and Oregon Coast White Sturgeon Conservation Plan. The 223,960 fish in 2016 is also 71 percent more than in 2014, when the sturgeon abundance was estimated at 130,990 fish.

“This continues an expected and generally positive trend in legal abundance since 2010, when the legal population declined to a near 30-year low,” according to Jones’ presentation. “The abundance trend of legal-sized fish is projected to stay positive in 2017.”

The moratorium resulted in an immediate effect of escaping a substantial number of white sturgeon into the over-legal (though not yet adult) size class of fish, protecting them from future harvest, according to the ODFW presentation.

With the moratorium has also come an 87 percent decline in angling for the fish, but very high catch rates have been reported for those anglers still fishing. One angler, representing the Northwest Guide Association, said he supports the catch and release strategy to rebuild the fishery.

“Since 2014 this management of … non retention has been a positive action in recovering fish in this river,” said Rob Bignall. “There is low mortality rate in this catch and release fishery. The loss in economic value surrounding the loss of this fishery would be devastating if the catch and release opportunity was lost. We are learning how to market this fishery by promoting it with the summer run Chinook. If we are ever to return to a retention fishery Northwest guides and outfitters would like to be included at the table.”

ODFW plans to continue its white sturgeon stock assessments in 2017, and to complete the next assessment by the end of September. Young-of-year surveys will begin again in late-October and should be done by early December.

The status of the Lower Columbia River white sturgeon, while not where ODFW staff would like it, is not in danger, according to Jones.

There are more than 500,000 fish, the adult population has been stable for five years and is not projected to decline, the legal-sized abundance is greater than 140,000 fish and with a no-retention policy, more are escaping every year, according to the staff assessment.

At this point, given the stock status of white sturgeon in the lower river, ODFW staff is not recommending resuming harvest of the fish, nor does it advocate for eliminating the catch and release fishery.