Salmon Trout Steelheader

Big Fall Trout; Tillamook Anglers, ODFW, & Oregon Food Bank; Regulations Preserve Quality

WDFW Releases Big Fall Trout

Jumbo rainbow trout are being planted in lakes in Jefferson, Mason and Kitsap counties to boost fishing opportunities this fall and winter, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced today.

Crews from WDFW and Trout Lodge are planting a total of 25,400 rainbow trout—each weighing nearly one pound— into Gibbs, Leland, and Teal lakes in Jefferson County; Island, Kokanee, Lost, Nahwatzel, Spencer and Trails End lakes in Mason County; and Island and Kitsap lakes in Kitsap County.

Crews are expected to finish stocking the lakes with jumbo trout early next week, said Mark Downen, WDFW’s district fish biologist. The trout were raised at WDFW’s Eells Springs Hatchery near Shelton, Satsop Springs Hatchery near Elma, and Trout Lodge hatcheries near Tumwater.

“The lakes that are being stocked are open year-round and provide anglers a great fall and winter trout fishing opportunity,” said Downen. “Some of the jumbo rainbow trout will continue to grow and be available to anglers next spring as well.”

Information on when and where fish are stocked in area lakes is available on WDFW’s website at http://wdfw.wa.gov/ fishing/plants/weekly/ and complete fishing regulations can be found at http://wdfw. wa.gov/fishing/regulations/.

All anglers 15 years of age and older are required to have a valid fishing license. Licenses can be purchased on the Internet at https://fishhunt.dfw.wa.gov/ or by calling 1-866-246-9453.

JD: Great move by WDFW. Usually all of the stockers are planted during spring. Within about two weeks, after getting pounded on, the season it pretty much over.  This is going to keep trout fishermen fishing much later into the season—with a lot less pressure. It’s also going to make for some big holdovers this spring.

Tillamook Anglers working with ODFW and Oregon Food Bank

Over the course of the last few weeks, volunteers from the Tillamook Anglers have teamed up with the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and the crew at Trask River State Fish Hatchery to contribute to the Oregon Food Bank.

The Anglers helped hatchery workers collect 75 pairs of coho salmon for their broodstock to produce fish for next year.

They also helped collect and process the remaining hatchery coho, which will feed users of the Oregon Food Bank and the Rockaway Senior Meals Program.

So far this season, the Anglers have helped process 895 coho.

“It’s wonderful having all these volunteers out here to help us,” said Trask Hatchery Manager Jim Skaar. “This is a physically demanding process, but with the volunteers from the Anglers we’re getting jobs done by noon that would have taken us all day to complete without them.”

The Tillamook Anglers help move the coho and select which ones are in good shape for human consumption. Then they fillet and vacuum pack the coho so they can be stored by the food banks.

Many of the Anglers also volunteer their time picking spring chinook, fall chinook and coho eggs with the hatchery crew.

“When we get a flood of fish in all at once, we’re immediately on a time line to get them taken care of and get the eggs picked,” Skaar said. “Without the volunteers it’d be very tough to do all that in the allotted amount of time.”

The last two years, the Tillamook Anglers have also been curing the coho eggs to sell to fishermen as bait.

“It’s illegal to use (the eggs) for personal gain because they were collected by the state,” said founder and president of the Tillamook Anglers, Jerry Dove. “We saw that the contract from the state said ‘no personal gain,’ but a nonprofit organization like the Whiskey Creek Fish Hatchery, which is run by volunteers from the Tillamook Anglers and on donations, could benefit.”

The Anglers bought a $105 license from the state and began selling the eggs.

“We called around for donations and got everything we needed to process the eggs,” Dove said. “Local guides like Travis Moncrief and Scott Amerman made big contributions as did companies like Pro Cure and Pautzke, not to mention TLC Credit Union, Tillamook Elks and the North Coast Salmon and Steelhead Enhancement fund, which helped us purchase our vacuum-packing machine a few months ago.”

This fall alone, the Anglers have processed about 7,300 pounds of fish and cured about 210 pounds of eggs. All money from the eggs sales will go to the Whiskey Creek Fish Hatchery.

“This is a really winning situation for everyone,” Dove said. “The Food Bank and the Rockaway Senior Meals Program get fresh filleted coho salmon, the Trask River Fish Hatchery gets a hand with their work, the fishermen get good, inexpensive bait and the Whiskey Creek Hatchery get some funding to continue to make more fish.”

To learn more about the Tillamook Anglers or purchase cured coho eggs, contact Dove at 503-812-1572.

JD: I’ve been keeping a close eye on the Tillamook Anglers and it’s obvious to me these guys have their heads in the right spot. This particular project is perfect. Carefully cured eggs for fishermen, help for the Trask Hatchery, funds raised for the Whiskey Creek Hatchery and of course over 7,300 pounds of vacuum-packed coho for the Oregon Food Bank. Everyone wins!

Regulations Preserve Quality Skeena Steelhead Fishery

The Province is implementing new angling regulations to preserve the quality of the Skeena steelhead fishery angling experience, announced Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations Minister Steve Thomson.

Through the Skeena River Quality Waters Strategy process, a number of measures have been developed to ensure the region’s steelhead fishery continues to provide economic and recreational benefits to northwest British Columbia in the years to come.

On April 1, 2012, the following regulation changes will take effect:

* Changes to the classification of some rivers resulting in fees for non-resident Canadian and foreign anglers to increase.

*A ‘Classified Waters Licence’ and a ‘Steelhead Conservation Stamp’ will be required for longer periods during the season to better moderate access to this unique fishery while allowing sustainable fishing opportunities.

*Increases and decreases to the number of days angling guides may operate, depending on the river.

*New restrictions to distribute guided angling over the whole season, which helps prevent crowding during peak fishing periods.

*New times and zones for angling by Canadians only, where foreign anglers will be restricted from fishing.

These changes have been developed in consultation with resident anglers, guides, tourism operators, business community members, non-Canadian anglers and First Nations to resolve issues of overcrowding in the fishery.

The Skeena River is specially designated to require a “Classified Water License” in addition to a basic license during specific periods, which helps moderate use of this highly productive and unique fishery.

A conservation surcharge is also required at all times when fishing for steelhead, which can be obtained through a “Steelhead Conservation Stamp” on the angler’s license.

This three-year stakeholder consultation process was followed by a review of tourism and economic information, which confirmed support for implementation of regulation changes. A further review of the regulatory changes will take place in two years to ensure the strategy is working as intended.

To learn more about these changes or read the Final Recommendations for Angling Management Plans, visit: http:// www.env.gov.bc.ca/skeena/qws/

Closure Justified?; Watershed Restoration; Voluntary Guidelines

Nehalem Bay Jaws Closure Justified?

The towns of Wheeler and Nehalem are small communities, but the chinook salmon that swim through Nehalem Bay can be monstrous.

It’s those mirror-sided goliaths that are the pacemakers to the cities’ hearts. But the towns also value their peaceful and beautiful bay. So it’s no surprise that when the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife held a public meeting to get an opinion on how the chinook fishery should be managed, it was well attended by the locals.

“Some of the years, the Nehalem meeting will have over 100 people in attendance,” said Chris Knutson, head fish biologist for the North Coast Watershed District. “Nehalem is a hot topic. I was a little surprised there were almost no fishing guides at the meeting.”

The meetings are held so ODFW can get local public opinion on a local fishery. Both the local input and the assessment of state fishery biologists goes into the state’s plan for fishing limits and restrictions.

During the Nehalem Bay meeting last spring, there was an overwhelming public outcry to close the area around the jetty—known as the “jaws”—to chinook fishing. The recommendation was incorporated and approved by ODFW.

“This closure isn’t permanent and may not be needed next year,” Knutsen said. “The decision to close the jaws was a short-term solution to the issue, and I expect it to be open again in the future.”

While the public outcry is justified for the closure of the jaws, the research and data gathered by ODFW says otherwise.

“We have a lot of different techniques we can use as conservation tools, and the public wanted the jaws closed,” Knutsen said. “But, if there’s harvestable numbers, it doesn’t matter where they’re harvested. Closing the jaws isn’t going to save or destroy the chinook run.”

The ODFW estimated that there will be 7,000 chinook that make it to their spawning beds on the Nehalem this year. The number of fish needed for the river to sustain a healthy population, also known as the escapement, of chinook is 6,800.

While that might seem like a small window of opportunity, ODFW’s prediction is based on what will make it to the spawning beds after fishermen harvest. The question for fishermen is, if there is enough to harvest why is there a closure in the jaws? And, why is it legal to harvest less than a mile up river?

Russ Morrow, owner and operator of Russ Morrow Sportfishing Guide Service, has an idea. “There were a bunch a locals in town that formed a mob and got the jaws closed because they don’t want to take their little tin boats out there,” Morrow said. “All these guys want is to make the rules so there are more fish for them to catch from their little houseboats in town, and they want to keep the guides out. They got the rules changed so it best fits how they want to fish, not because it’s needed for the fish. ODFW did it because they wanted to appease the crowd and shut them up. “What about the local businesses impacted by the closure? This was a biased and foolish decision.”

But Manzanita Mayor Gary Bullard said closing the fishing at the jaws will actually bring in more fishermen by giving more people a chance at the chinook.

“The jaws are a transition zone where the fish are coming and going and feeding actively while being concentrated in one place,” Bullard said. “By closing it, it’s going to give more anglers a chance at more fish... I don’t know of any organized effort to make sure people attended the meetings to vote for a closure. I think it was more of a spontaneous uprising.”

Jim Neilson, who owns the Wheeler Marine, said he hasn’t seen any impact from closing the jaws.

“We have enough people coming over here in the summer that the jaws closure isn’t hurting anything,” he said.

Only a few yards away, the owner of Wheeler on the Bay Lodge Pat Scribner has heard at least one negative comment from the closure.

“We had a gentleman that said he wouldn’t be back because the jaws are closed, but how many people are really like that?” Scribner said. “I’m all for keeping the jaws open if there are enough fish, but I voted to close it at the meeting.”

JD: ODFW made a popular decision about the jaws, but if there was justification for closing the jaws, they should have had an entire river closure until Sept. 15. Fish caught in the river are just as dead as fish caught in the jaws. No reason to close one and not the other.


Miami Watershed Restoration

The Tillamook Bay Watershed Council is partnering with the Oregon Department of Forestry to complete a watershed enhancement project to help increase salmon populations on the Miami River. The project was implemented throughout August and September 2011 and aimed to enhance over four miles of instream habitat and close over two miles of road that impinge on the floodplain of the North Fork of the Miami River.

“Humans have impacted the environment to the point where almost all the streamside conifers are gone, and the ecosystem is changed to where it doesn’t support itself,” said director of the Tillamook Bay Watershed Council Denise Lofman. “We’re trying to get it back to a self-sustaining and healthy eco system.”

Oregon Department of Forestry has identified key watershed issues and management actions for the Upper Miami River watershed. The central limiting factor for salmon production is poor-quality winter rearing habitat. These are places in the stream which provide safe habitat for small juvenile salmon to retreat to when waters run high during the winter. These habitats are created by pools that are formed by large wood or off-stream alcoves or channels. Future large-wood recruitment and fine-sediment input from roads are additional limiting factors.

“Our biggest concern is the endangered wild coho salmon. Once the fry hatch they are very dependent on shelter and slow-moving water,” said Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Assistant District Biologist David Plawman. “Our goal is to maintain a self-sustaining wild coho population and right now their biggest limiting factor is habitat. That’s what we’re working on.”

Together, ODF and the Tillamook Bay Watershed Council chose to secure funding to begin addressing these limiting factors within the watershed. Grants for the project have been provided by the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and US Fish and Wildlife Service for over $100,000.

“As a non-profit organization, we went after the grant money for this project and we’re blessed to have it granted to us,” Lofman said. “It’s a big boot to restoring the Miami watershed, but we also help provide jobs so this project is an economic benefit as well.”

The project will place about 120 logs and 50 boulders in the upper Miami River and will close 2.15 miles of upper Miami River Road. The majority of these boulders and logs were donated by the Oregon Department of Forestry.

“We’re happy to help with restoration wherever we can,” said Oregon Department of Forestry Forest Road Supervisor Scott Bushnell. “This project is also going to give us a chance to decommission an old logging road that parallels the river that has always created problems with the habitat and has never let the river act like it should.”

The work will be completed through a service contract and at the direction of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Biologists and ODF Road Specialists.

JD: This restoration project is an outstanding plan for the Miami River. I thought that planting more fish would create more returns, but without better habitat, the river was at its maximum population density. With more structure for the fish, its population should increase steadily.


Commission Backs Voluntary Guidelines to Reduce Sodium Sulfite in Egg Cures

The Fish and Wildlife Commission approved voluntary guidelines for egg-cure manufacturers to reduce or eliminate the use of sodium sulfites in bait cures used for salmon eggs.

Beginning Oct. 1, 2011 all new production of cured eggs and eggs cured with commercially available cures should not have more than 12 grams of sodium sulfite per kilogram of cured eggs, a risk level considered acceptable by fishery managers.

A peer-reviewed study by ODFW and Oregon State University found that some commercially available egg cures killed juvenile chinook and steelhead when the fish consumed the eggs. The problem was linked to sodium sulfite, an ingredient that is used to inhibit mold growth. When ODFW tested cured eggs, it found levels of 15 to 50 grams of sodium sulfite per kg of eggs.

Last year, the Commission indicated support for a phased, non-regulatory approach to address the problem. Through a collaborative effort with the cured-egg and egg-cure industry, ODFW staff developed a solution that causes minimal impacts on juvenile salmonids. The Department will lead an education and outreach effort to encourage anglers that make their own homemade cures to consider using borax instead of sodium sulfite.

JD: I’m still not convinced sulfites are the biggest hurdle fish have to get over, but there are plenty of ways to catch besides sulfite-stuffed eggs. We’ll have to find another way to do it. Wish we could get Indians and commercial fishermen to be reasonable as well.

Bounty on the Bay, Situk River , Salmon Smuggler, and Sacramento Salmon

Bounty on the Bay Success

On June 4th the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership (TEP) held their 9th annual “Bounty of the Bay” tournament to raise funds for their organization.

The TEP has always been a friend of fishermen who enjoy fishing in Tillamook County because they’ve held fast to their purpose statement, “Dedicated to conservation and restoration of Tillamook County estuaries and watersheds in their entirety.”

Local fishing guide Bob Rees and serious TEP and Bounty on the Bay supporter said when asked about what TEP does for his business as a fishing guide, “It’s like they’re making pasture land for fish. The more they make, the higher the carrying capacity.”

“It’s such a solid organization. Everyone who’s involved really gets the mission statement, but also understands the legitimacy of opposing sides on sensitive topics and the concerns of people not involved in fishing,” said Sierra Lauder-Schnabel, who’s the newly appointed event coordinator for the Bounty on the Bay. “It’s incredibly important to get as many people in the communities involved so we can all work together,” he added.

Thirteen different local fishing guides donated their services to take participants wherever they saw fit in hopes of catching the day’s largest spring chinook and collecting the first place prize. And of course a year worth of bragging rights. Anglers could also enter the event as non-guided and fish in their own private boats.

Participation in the tournament gives anglers opportunities to bid on silent-auction items or win various prizes donated to the event. A fresh seafood dinner is prepared for them after the weigh-in is over.

This year the largest fish weighed in at a hefty 25 pounds and was caught by Chris Schaller while fishing with guide Curt Hedges.

The Captains award, which goes to the boat with the most total inches of salmon, went to George Buckingham who was fishing with his brother Tom. Their three fish totaled 102.2 inches. Tom also won the total inches of salmon for a single angler with his two fish. They also caught and released a wild fish.

There were plenty more beautiful fish caught by the 60 anglers. It made the day more than worth it for anglers involved, besides giving back to a group that helps keep the salmon and steelhead they love so much swimming in the rivers.

“We like to take into consideration what’s going on up and downstream in the watersheds,” said TEP Executive Director Lisa Phipps. “There are farmlands, oceans, and forest areas involved and there are different needs in different areas. We have to address each of these issues where they are because restoration is very holistic.”

The benefits of a healthy watershed are good for everyone including the economics benefits,” said Phipps. “From 2003 to 2010, the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership has put over 3 million dollars back into the economy as well as taken the Federal grant we’re given each year and allocated it to other groups who are helping keep the watersheds healthy.” 

JD: I urge anyone who has any interest in Tillamook County watersheds to come check it out next year. TEP really has their act together when it comes to helping the watershed which in turn helps the fish—not to mention serving a great seafood dinner.


Situk River Closes for Chinook

Due to diminishing chinook numbers, the Situk River in Southeast Alaska near the city of Yakutat is closing its subsistence chinook fishery until at least July 27th.

This closure includes gill netting as well as fishing with rod and reel. Chinook caught by accident must be released as quickly as possible with as little handling as possible.

In 2010 Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported that a mere 167 chinook returned and because the needed escapement numbers are somewhere between 400 and 1050 fish, shutting the 2011 was paramount.

Fortunately for the local fishermen and women, the sockeye numbers are still going strong which is what makes up the majority of the subsistence fishing.

“They’re only predicting 140 kings up the river, and we’ve been averaging 1,000 until a few years ago and it’s a real concern,” said Yakutat Mayor Dave Stone. “It’s a real concern that if we don’t get the kings up the river, they’ll close commercial fishing,” said Stone. “I believe the majority of them want something to be done, and that’s what they’re doing.”

JD: Hopefully these measures will help the kings recover and things can get back to normal.


Salmon Smuggler Makes Big Money in B.C.

The self-proclaimed “king of the Fraser River native fishery” is possibly one of the highest volume fish smugglers on the planet, but due to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court, which forbids covert tapes where a police officer was present unless the suspect was aware of the tape being made, he’s still operating.

Two U.S. undercover agents posed as buyers and recorded a conversation between themselves and the “king” inquiring about how much fish they could purchase on the black market. The numbers he claimed to be able to produce were astounding. On the tape, which was eventually leaked to the media, the king said he could get them somewhere around 20 tons of chinook, 100,000 pounds of pink salmon and claimed that 300,000 pounds of chum wasn’t out of the question. By the end of the recording the king had offered the 2 agents upwards of 590,00 pounds of native food fish.

The question is why was the king never arrested? The answer is simple. The tape was inadmissible according to the Canadian government when it was presented to the court by Phil Eidsvik, who is a representative of the B.C. Fisheries Survival Coalition and the Area D Salmon Gillnet Association.

The tapes were thrown out when a native coalition lawyer argued they were irrelevant and the U.S. interfered. This was a Canadian issue.

JD: Stories like this make me sick. The guy is on tape admitting his crimes but a native judge threw out the tape. I’m willing to bet there was some cash changing hands on that ruling.


Sacramento Salmon in a Bad Way

Governor Kitzhaber was informed by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke that he determined that there is a continuing commercial-fishery failure in the Oregon commercial salmon fishery south of Cape Falcon. Secretary Locke’s determination covers the 2010 fishing season, when the salmon fishery was curtailed due to continuing low salmon returns of fall chinook in the Sacramento River.

The determination means that Oregon is eligible for federal disaster relief to the fishing industry if Congress appropriates funds for the program. Funds for disaster assistance may be used for a wide variety of purposes, including direct assistance to fishermen such as: compensation; community grants; training; loans and debt refinancing; and employment on fishery related projects. In 2008, Congress approved $170 million in assistance to fishermen on the West Coast as a result of restrictions following low Sacramento River returns.

“I appreciate Secretary Locke’s continuation of the commercial-fishery failure determination. This allows our state to seek aid for those affected by continuing economic hardship resulting from fisheries-management restrictions along the Oregon coast,” said Governor Kitzhaber.

If Congress appropriates disaster relief funding, the National Marine Fisheries Service Northwest Region will work with Oregon to develop an economic spending plan to support activities that would restore the fishery or prevent a similar failure and assist the affected communities, under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act and section 308(d) of the Interjurisdictional Fisheries Act.

Big Creek, Recall, Fish Rescue, & Sealion

Borrowed Chums Planted in Big Creek

Chum salmon, long considered to be almost extinct on the Oregon side of the lower Columbia River, might again return to their tributaries if a cooperative effort of the Oregon and Washington departments of fish and wildlife proves successful.

During the first week of April, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife released 106,000 juvenile chum salmon into lower Big Creek in the first phase of a project attempting to re-establish the species, which began to disappear from the Oregon side of the river more than 50 years ago. While the reason for their decline is not completely clear, biologists believe that severe habitat degradation, among other factors, played a key role.

The approximately 50 adult chum salmon male and female pairs used to produce the 2½ -inch fry at ODFW’s Big Creek Fish Hatchery were donated to Oregon by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The adults were captured last fall in Grays River, a tributary of the lower Columbia on the Washington side of the river.

“Grays River stock are likely the most genetically similar to what once occupied Big Creek and other lower Columbia tributaries,” said Chris Knutsen, district fish biologist for ODFW’s North Coast Watershed. “We worked closely with our counterparts from WDFW to initiate this program in Oregon. We could not do this without fish from the Washington side of the river.”

The young salmon were released at night during an outgoing tide to increase their chances of getting past predators and surviving the 25-mile swim to the Pacific Ocean, where they will spend the next 3 to 4 years before returning to spawn at Big Creek.

“The quicker they get out under the cover of darkness and in a strong ebb tide the better their chances of survival,” Knutsen explained.

Once the fish return to Big Creek most will be captured and spawned at Big Creek Fish Hatchery to produce more eggs and fry for release in subsequent years. Ultimately, ODFW hopes to generate enough seed stock to begin out-planting chum in other lower Columbia tributaries that are considered suitable for this species. Just which streams will be selected for future releases depends on which ones have the best conditions for chum, which Knutsen says are “very picky spawners.”

Chum salmon are generally more selective in their choice of spawning habitat than other salmon species, according to Knutsen. Chum especially seek out upwelling areas associated with springs and seeps, he said, and they also prefer very clean, well-sorted gravel that is free of sands and silts that could smother their eggs.

Dozens of streams around Scappoose and Clatskanie will be evaluated by ODFW research teams because biologists believe they show the greatest potential for establishing naturally-reproducing chum populations. Biologists also believe the timing is right for reintroduction because conservation measures and habitat improvements are already well underway in the region.

“Fortunately, we have four or five years to figure out which streams will work best because it will take us that long to generate extra fish for out-planting,” said Knutsen.

JD: As someone who’s inadvertently hooked a stray chum in Big Creek one day while steelhead fishing, I can’t wait until they return in fishable numbers. That was one wild ride!

Canned Seafood Recall

Quinault Tribal Enterprise of Taholah, WA is recalling all canned seafood products including all salmon, smoked and non-smoked; tuna, smoked and non-smoked; smoked sturgeon; minced razor clams; smoked razor clams; and smoked steelhead. The canned seafood products are being recalled because they were not adequately processed according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s low-acid canned food regulations. Canned seafood that is not processed following those food safety requirements may be contaminated with harmful microorganisms that can cause serious and possibly life-threatening illness. Consumers are warned not to use the products even if it does not look or smell spoiled.

The products are packaged in metal cans in various sizes and labeled under the Quinault Pride or Quinault Tribal Enterprises brand. All manufacturing codes are subject to this recall.

Consumers who have purchased Quinault Pride Brand are urged to return it to the place of purchase for a full refund. Consumers with questions may contact the company at 1-800-982-8650 Monday through Friday between 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

Fish Rescue a Success in California

The Department of Fish and Game completed two days of successful fish rescues this week. A total of 46 sturgeon, 142 chinook salmon, 12 steelhead and numerous striped bass were safely returned to the Sacramento River. Rescues took place at the Fremont Weir in Yolo County and Tisdale Weir in Sutter County along the Sacramento River. Several weeks of rainy weather caused the Sacramento River to overflow into the Yolo and Sutter bypasses. Once the water levels receded, fish were trapped behind two main weirs and unable to return to the river.

Twenty five of the sturgeons released are federally listed green sturgeon and the remainder are white sturgeon. Fifty three of the salmon released are adult spring or winter-run chinook which are also federally listed. The sturgeon and adult salmon were migrating up the Sacramento River to spawn. All of the green sturgeon were implanted with acoustic tracking devices. One of the largest green sturgeon released exceeded seven feet in length and is estimated to carry more than 150,000 eggs.

DFG Senior Environmental Scientist Joe Johnson organized the rescue teams of 30 DFG biologists, wardens, technicians and natural-resource volunteers along with five National Marine Fisheries Service biologists and five UC Davis Bio-Technology Laboratory personnel. All worked on different phases of the rescue capturing and transporting fish, and placing radio telemetry devices in sturgeon.

“The rescue operation was significant,” Johnson said. “We saved federally listed threatened and endangered fish. The acoustic tags inserted in each green sturgeon will enable scientists to track and tell if they survive and where they go. This was a rare opportunity.”

JD: Glad to see some wayward fish make it safely back in the river they came from. It will be interesting to keep tabs on the tagged fishes’ progress and see if they made it to spawn.

Sealion Takes Fisherman Swimming/span>

What seemed like just another day of spring chinook fishing in the Multnomah Channel for 62-year-old Jan Christopherson and his son Matt ended up being one wild ride. Matt was fighting a “springer” when they realized there was a sealion in the area that was interested in snacking on the fish they were battling. The fight seemed all but over when Jan slipped the net under the fish. He was about ready to claim their prize when suddenly he went from standing in the boat to splashing in the water.

It’s assumed that a California sealion grabbed the fish Jan had just scooped up. With one flick of its tail it pulled the fisherman, net,  rod and reel and salmon into the water before anyone could react. Fortunately for Jan, his son and fishing partner Loren Remy lunged out and wrestled dripping wet Jan back into the boat. Jan was a little banged up, but noted that his pride took the majority of the impact.

Later that day Christopher called the State Police Wildlife Division and was quoted saying, “If this was in a State Park and a grizzly or brown bear did this, they’d shoot it.”

JD: Jan has a very good point. Most animals that have lost the fear of humans and become aggressive towards them are exterminated to keep events like this from happening again. I believe it’s about time to make sure sealions know humans are at the top of the food chain.

Coho, Steelhead, Big Water & Oil Tanker Ban

Coho in Russian River Make a Dramatic Return

Scientists working on the recovery of endangered coho salmon in Northern California appreciate success even if it comes in small doses. Field biologists from the California Department of Fish and Game are reporting the largest number of coho returning to spawn in Sonoma County tributaries of the Russian River in more than a decade.

Most of these fish were released as fingerlings into the river system, as part of a captive broodstock program at Don Clausen Warm Springs Hatchery on Lake Sonoma. The broodstock program began 10 years ago, when wild coho salmon were rapidly vanishing from the region.

Prior to the launch of the recovery program in 2001, the number of returning adult coho salmon averaged less than four per year. These low numbers were the catalyst for the Russian River Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock Program, a recovery effort in which offspring from hatchery-reared adults are released into the river system.

Biologists estimate that more than 190 adult coho may have returned to the Russian River system, beginning with early storms in October and peaking in December. Promisingly, a few coho are being sighted in creeks that are not stocked, utilizing habitat beyond those tributaries in which coho are released.

“We are hopeful that coho salmon released through this program will continue to return to the Russian River system in increasing numbers and begin to establish self-sustaining populations,” says Manfred Kittel, Coho Salmon Recovery Coordinator for DFG’s Bay Delta Region. “The program is a cornerstone of coho salmon recovery efforts in Central California, but the number of fish observed this year must be seen in perspective. A healthy coho population should number in the tens of thousands in California.”


Columbia River Steelhead

Anglers can look forward to another promising steelhead season on the Columbia River and its tributaries this year, based on a forecast released recently by a team of state, federal and tribal biologists.

The report issued in March by the Columbia River Technical Advisory Committee forecasts a return of 391,000 upriver summer steelhead for the season that begins May 16 on the Columbia River below the I-5 Bridge. TAC is comprised of state, federal and tribal biologists whose forecasts are used to set salmon and steelhead seasons and harvest guidelines on the Columbia River.

“The summer steelhead season is one of our most stable fisheries,” said John North, manager of ODFW’s Columbia River Fisheries Program, who noted the 2011 forecast is in line with the 10-year average. “It is one of those fisheries where you can go fishing and enjoy good weather and a wide range of locations and fishing methods.”

The bulk of the forecast is for A-index hatchery steelhead, the earlier of two major runs. Out of the total upriver steelhead forecast, 312,000 are expected to be A-run hatchery fish, which typically range in size from 5 to 8 pounds each. The A-run fish typically show up in large numbers in the Portland area below the I-5 Bridge from the opening of steelhead season on May 16 through the end of June, according to Jimmy Watts, ODFW’s Columbia River assistant project leader. The B-index steelhead run, which is forecast at 54,000 fish, usually arrives a little later. B-index steelhead typically range from 8 to 12 pounds.

Watts noted that the summer steelhead fishery is one in which bank fishermen often do as well or even better than people in boats because steelhead are shallow-water travelers and can be picked up near shore by fishing from the bank. Effective bank fishing techniques include plunking with Spin-N-Glos, Corkies, shrimp and prawns and casting spinners. Boat fishing can also be effective by trolling or plunking with Flatfish.

“There are a lot of fish and it’s easy to get to them,” he said. “It’s one of those things where if you’re sitting on the beach camping with your family, why not put out a couple of rods?”

Another Summer of Big Water in the Columbia

The court-ordered increased spill out of the Snake and Columbia river dams will continue helping smolts get an easy ride to the ocean this year. There’s little doubt that increasing these flows has boosted the smolts’ survival considerably, which in turn has boosted the numbers of adults returning in recent years.

“This operation is consistent with 2010 and previous years, and we do anticipate that we’re going to get very high survival through the system, especially in a good water year,” said U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Fisheries Program manager, Rock Peters. It’s obvious that there’s been plenty of controversy surrounding the decision to allow the water to freely flow because water flowing freely means power isn’t being generated, but that was taken into consideration as was the needs of the tribes, state, and federal agencies.

Northwest regional director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Glen Spain is excited about the water spilling through the dams and said about the future of the Columbia River salmon, “I’m hopeful that this does mean that the agencies see that the science is pretty clear; that spill helps fish. The reality is, when the fish are in the river and the river is run like a river, the fish swimming through it do much better than if they go through the turbines.” Spain also noted that there are sport and commercial fisheries, as well as coastal communities, relying on these salmon making a strong return up and down the West Coast.

JD: Well said, Mr. Spain. There is so much more than only salmon counting on these fish. They generate so much money in some small communities that without salmon some communities wouldn’t be able to sustain it themselves. Another reason to keep the water flowing!


Oil Tanker Ban

Vancouver Quadra Liberal MP Joyce Murray announced that C-606, her private Members’ bill to ban oil tanker traffic off B.C.’s north coast, has been officially submitted to proceed to debate next month.

“We are now one step closer to a legislated oil tanker ban on B.C.’s north coast—the only way to protect our oceans and communities from a catastrophic oil spill,” stated Murray. “If disaster were to strike in our northern coastal waters, B.C.—and Canada as a whole—would never be the same.”

Bill C-606 legislates a crude oil tanker ban in the dangerous inland waters around Haida Gwaii known as Dixon Entrance, Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound. The bill would not affect current deliveries of diesel and other oil products to local communities.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has repeatedly called on the Harper government to commit to safeguarding B.C.’s coast from the social, economic and environmental destruction that would result from a major oil spill. The Conservatives have ignored Mr. Ignatieff, claiming there are enough safeguards and technologies in place to prevent and clean up a spill.

“We’ve witnessed the Gulf of Mexico and Exxon-Valdez oil spills. It’s just not worth the risk,” stated Ms. Murray. “In perfect conditions, industry considers 15 percent recovery of oil a success, but a recent report by Canada’s Environment and Sustainable Development Commissioner raised serious doubts about the Conservative government’s ability to even respond to a spill. I am reaching out to all Parties to support Bill C-606 and I urge all Members to support protecting our oceans and our communities,” added Ms. Murray.

Excellent News, Letter to STS, Hiding Spots, and Escape

Excellent News for Columbia River Fall Chinook

Things are looking great for the 2011 run of Columbia River fall chinook. Scientists from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, as well as the U.S. Oregon Technical Advisory Committee, have estimated that the run could be the highest we’ve seen in over 60 years, in fact it might be over 200,000 higher than the 10-year average. That’s a total of 760,600 chinook swimming up the Columbia. This includes 398,200 upriver brights which are the farthest running fish returning to Hanford Reach, as well as Priest Rapids Hatchery, Deschutes, Snake and Yakima rivers. If the returns are this high it’s going to be a banner year for fishermen up and down the Columbia.

If the numbers alone aren’t enough to get excited about, the size of the fish might get your blood pumping. Over 60% of the upriver brights are expected to be 4-year-old fish. This is going to put slabs on the ends of lines and cause frantic excitement and high-fives in boats all over the river.

Obviously not all of the returning fish are going to the Hanford Reach. 116,400 are expected to return to the Bonneville Pool Hatchery. Slightly less than the 10- year average, but of course all the fish going further aren’t counted in those totals so that still makes for a very salmon-choked stretch of river. There’s also estimated to be 133,500 lower-river hatchery fish.

JD: This is really exciting news!

Letter to STSConcerning B.C. Halibut Allocations

I’m not sure if you know about this issue already or not, but we are in the midst of a HUGE battle up here in British Columbia pertinent to our 2011 halibut season (and beyond!). Recreational anglers are fighting against the Federal Department of Fisheries and Oceans over the allocation of our total allowable annual halibut catch, in hopes of increasing our allocation so that we do not face a total shutdown of the sport halibut fishery by as early as late-June!

Currently, our Total Allowable Catch (TAC) for the province of British Columbia, both sport and commercial, is roughly 7 million pounds. 88% of this TAC is allocated to a mere 435 commercial license holders, of which only 170 are actually fishing, the remaining “slipper skippers” sit on their couches all season long and lease their quota, which was “gifted” to them by the federal government in 2003. Sports fishermen are allowed 12% of the TAC, despite the fact that their numbers top out at around 300,000 anglers annually.

There are several key issues at play here. One, we believe we have a constitutional right as citizens of Canada to access to our “common property,” ie the halibut stocks off the coast of B.C. Two, it was unconstitutional for the Canadian government to “gift” 435 commercial license holders with any quota, let alone 88% of Canada’s TAC. Three, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans alone holds the power to redistribute this allocation, but is unwilling and unapproachable on this issue. Four, unless something is done, hundreds of thousands of sports fishermen face a province-wide halibut shutdown by as early as late-June.

Obviously, I thought you would be very interested in what’s going on up here. I attended a very important symposium last night here on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and this meeting is only one of many that are going on in every coastal fishing town across the province. There are some very heavy hitters leading the fight on behalf of the sportsfishing community including the Sport Fishing Institute of B.C., B.C. Wildlife Federation, the B.C. Marine Trades Association, etc. Here’s the website of SFI for further info: www.sfibc.com

Thanks,

Capt. Josh Temple

JD: Thank you so much Captain Josh for bringing this to our attention. This is obviously another case where allowable harvest is being unfairly divvied up between sport fishermen and commercials.

Hiding Spots Now Available for Juvenile Fish

It’s finally been realized that a 96-acre marsh that was once shut off from the rest of the lower Columbia is essential when it comes to a healthy ecosystem and something was finally done about it. Crews placed a giant new culvert with a natural stream bottom under the highway to allow fish passage from the main river into the marsh, as well as removing a cofferdam, which was put in place to divert water while road construction was being done. Both will allow for more wetland area access for fish. With those improvements, strong Columbia River tides will be able to flow in and out of the marsh for the first time in over 100 years and the fish will be able to flow in and out right along with them.

JD: This is incredibly good news for anyone interested in strong runs of salmon and steelhead. You can’t expect young fish trying to survive in the estuary to stay alive long with all the birds unless they have a place to hide. 96 new acres of marsh makes a lot of new hideouts.

Another Farmed-Fish Escape

“Another escape of farmed Atlantic salmon near Grand Manan Island illustrates that, even with the best of intentions and modern equipment, breaches in containment at fish farms still occur,” states Bill Taylor, President of the Atlantic Salmon Federation.

The 138,000 juvenile farmed Atlantic salmon, estimated to be about 25 cm in length, escaped from an aquaculture pen operation near White Head Island, located east of Grand Manan Island at the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. Although they are small, these juvenile salmon are capable of surviving in the ocean. It is believed that the high winds and ocean swells between December 20 and 26 ripped open the newly installed net cages.

“Storm events can cause problems with any coastal infrastructure and damage to salmon sea cages is no surprise,” says Mr. Taylor. “Anyone who works in ocean conditions understands that there are weather-related hazards.

“Recapture efforts must be implemented to reduce the impacts of escaped farm salmon on populations of wild Atlantic salmon which are at critically low levels throughout the Bay of Fundy and nearby Gulf of Maine,” adds Mr. Taylor. “The best solution to the problem of escapes, however, would be to locate salmon farms on land. It would also eliminate the spread of sea lice and disease to wild salmon.”

Approximately 38,000 of the escaped fish were from a hatchery in the upper Saint John River, while 100,000 were from a hatchery on Grand Manan Island. Although the fish are small now, ASF and other conservation organizations are concerned that over the next two years some of them could survive to maturity and enter rivers on both the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick sides of the Bay of Fundy. A major threat is that farmed fish will interbreed with wild salmon, producing weaker genetic strains of fish that are less likely to survive in the natural environment.

JD: When is this going to stop? Wouldn’t it make sense to raise farmed fish nowhere near the ocean so this never happens?

New Rules, Salmon Class, Reduced Catch, Steelhead Planted

New Rules for Floating the John Day

A permit is required to boat the John Day River. Beginning with the 2011 season, boaters will need to obtain a launch permit in advance for overnight and day-use trips within Segment 2 (Clarno to Cottonwood) and Segment 3 (Service Creek to Clarno) for trips between May 20 and July 10.

Advance launch permits will be available for reservation on-line and by phone. The BLM website will provide more information on how to obtain a launch permit to boat within Segment 2 or 3 during the Primary Boating Season (May 20 to July 10).

An advance launch permit will not be required for trips that are entirely upstream of Service Creek or downstream of Cottonwood, regardless of the time of year. An advance launch permit will not be required for trips within Segment 2 or 3 (Service Creek to Cottonwood) before May 20 or after July 10.

Boaters must comply with all permit regulations. It’s important to become familiar with the permit regulations as you plan for your trip so you are prepared with the required boating equipment when you arrive at the launch point.

Salmon Class gets the Ax

The Salmon in the Classroom Program, which has been a part of Washington schools for over 19 years, is about to become the latest casualty of statewide budget cuts in an attempt to make up part of the 6.2 million-dollar budget cuts in the Washington Fish and Wildlife budget.

Steven Garlid, who teaches at Bryant Elementary School in Seattle, said about the cuts, “We heard it was on the chopping block. It’s been a wonderful program at Bryant for my entire career, 17 years. There’s no substitute for watching salmon eggs develop and hatch. I can only guess what the loss will be.”

The Department of Fish and Wildlife stated that the program was abolished during the Legislature’s special session and was also proposed by Governor Chris Gregoire’s budget plan for the next two years.

This program had previously been available throughout the state, but the $442,000 that is supposed to be saved without the program in the next biennium outweighed the need for this incredibly tangible and inspiring learning aid for students.

Columbia River Sturgeon Catch Reduced?

The proposed sturgeon guidelines support reductions in harvest rates for stocks downriver from Bonneville Dam that have shown a marked decline over the past three to five years.

Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon have advocated reducing the catch by at least 30 percent over the next three years, following on the heels of a 40 percent reduction during the 2010 fishing season.

Catch levels and fishing seasons for this year will be determined by representatives of the two states at an upcoming meeting of the Columbia River Compact in Oregon City, OR.

A 30 percent reduction would cap the total catch at 17,000 legal-size fish, down from 24,000 in 2010. As in past years, 80 percent of the allowable harvest will be reserved for the sport fishery and 20 percent for the commercial fishery.

 Steelhead Planted at Mill Creek Lake in Mendocino County

A small lake in Mendocino County is the second water in California planted with native steelhead trout under new environmental mandates. On Jan. 11, the Department of Fish and Game planted Mill Creek Lake with steelhead trout that were raised at Warm Springs Fish Hatchery. A total of 15,000 fish will be planted in the lake over a five- to six-month period.

This fish planting meets all new environmental planting regulations established in 2010 and state fish-planning mandates codified in Assembly Bill 7 by assembly member Dave Cogdill. According to the new mandates, non-native rainbow trout can no longer be planted there because of potential escapement downstream into the Russian River system, where they could interbreed with native steelhead trout.

Bill Cox, DFG State Program Manager of Fish Production and Distribution, said, “We are always looking for better ways to provide angling opportunities, make the best use of hatchery facilities, and adapt to changing circumstances and regulations.”

DFG completed and filed the Hatchery and Stocking Program Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement in 2010, culminating a two-and-a-half-year effort to evaluate and analyze impacts of fish stocking on certain California native species. As part of the actions, waters like Mill Creek Lake fall under new strict stocking guidelines.

“We realized that waters like Mill Creek Lake could not be planted with non-native hatchery rainbow trout. So instead of writing it off as a lost fishing opportunity, we found a way to use all our resources at Warm Springs Hatchery and provide a fishery,” said DFG Senior Hatchery Supervisor Brett Wilson.

The new planting program utilizes excess steelhead eggs from the Russian River drainage mitigation programs to rear steelhead trout to plant into Mill Creek Lake. These fish meet the genetic integrity of hatchery steelhead stocks monitored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Rentention, Rewording, Recommendation, and Returns

Washington Wild Steelhead
Retention Delayed
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is reminding anglers that they will not be allowed to catch and keep wild steelhead on eight Olympic Peninsula rivers until mid-February. Earlier this year, the annual opening date for wild steelhead retention was changed from Dec. 1 to Feb. 16 on eight rivers with fisheries for wild steelhead.
    That change, adopted by the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission last February, applies to fisheries for wild steelhead on the Bogachiel, Calawah, Clearwater, Dickey, Hoh, Quillayute, Quinault and Sol Duc rivers. Those eight rivers are the only waters in Washington where wild steelhead retention is allowed. The change does not affect fisheries currently under way for hatchery-reared steelhead, identifiable by their missing adipose or ventral fin.
    The commission, which sets policy for WDFW, changed the opening date for wild steelhead retention to protect the early portion of the run, said Bob Leland, WDFW’s steelhead program manager. He noted, however, that anglers would still have an opportunity to catch and keep a wild fish during the peak of the return in late spring.
    “Making this change will help to maintain the diversity of the run including a range of late and early returning fish, that is important in preserving the wild steelhead population,” Leland said.
    As before, anglers will be allowed to retain one wild steelhead per license year on one of the eight rivers. Leland said the change is consistent with WDFW’s Statewide Steelhead Management Plan, which was approved by the commission in 2008.
    Leland also noted anglers should be aware that the sport fishing rules adopted by the commission earlier this year also include regulations that prohibit the retention of wild steelhead on the Green (Duwamish), Pysht and Hoko rivers. The change is designed to protect wild steelhead on the three rivers, where wild runs have recently been in decline.
   
JD: I’m for protecting wild steelhead, but this law isn’t as beneficial as it seems. It will help the early returning fish, but the majority of the wild steelhead killed by sport anglers has always been in the time period after it reopens. To really make a difference sport fishermen need to step up and not hide behind the argument, “The Indians will kill them if we don’t,” and stop killing wild fish altogether. Then stand together and try to work with the tribes on a way to reduce their effects on wild steelhead.
   
Rewording Law Dramatically Changes Punishments
The word “may” implies that something could happen. It’s possible, an option, in the cards if you will. By changing the word “may” into the word “shall” it takes all the different possibilities out of the equation and changes what could happen into what will happen.
    That’s exactly what lawmakers in Oregon have done with the wording of a law, which leaves the option of stripping hunting and fishing licenses up to the discretion of a judge. This includes stripping hunting and fishing privileges for the smallest of infractions.
    The rewriting of House Bill 3089 has not only made it so sport fishermen and hunters are one small misstep away from losing their licenses, but if a commercial fisherman makes a willful or accidental mistake on a fishing trip with friends they could lose their commercial fishing license.
    Jackson County Circuit Court judge Ray White is not at all excited about the change. White is known for punishing fish and wildlife violations to the fullest extent, but says this rule change is “unfortunate”. White was quoted when speaking about the change as saying, “You can’t listen to the facts and say, “Oh, yes, this is a violation, but there were lots of extenuating circumstances. We can’t consider those when they use the ‘shall’ word.”
    ODFW has realized how dramatic the wording change has effected the punishments and is considering a change back from “shall” to “may”.
    Curt Melcher, the ODFW’s deputy director, has stated, “I don’t think that was the intent of the draft. We’re working on a possible short-term fix so the language doesn’t become so sweeping. It would be the equivalent of losing your driver’s license for a rolling stop.”
   
JD: I hope this law has changed by the time you read this. It’d be a shame to lose your fishing license for something so small as forgetting to pinch a barb. We have judges elected to hand down proper punishments to fit the crimes. Let’s let them do their jobs. 

Advisory Group Makes Serous Recommendation
The task forces assigned to deal with the problems salmon are having getting through the hoards of sealions accumulating at the base of Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River have been working hard, but the sealions are still there.
    They’ve tried relocation, scare tactics, and even have trapped and euthanized a few by lethal injection, but in the end have spent a lot of time and money and have come up with very poor results. Finally the advisory group recommended what many sport fishermen have been waiting to hear for a long time. Shoot them on sight.
    Dennis Richey is the Oregon Anglers executive director and was a member on the advising task force. He noted that if the sealions saw Bonniville Dam as an unsafe place they would leave, but currently they don’t have any reason to go anywhere.
    Humane Society official Sharon Young was the only member on the task force who voted against shooting the sealions.
    The next step moving forward with the recommendation will go to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration where it will be reviewed and hopefully approved.
  
JD: It’s about damn time! Anyone who knows anything about sealions will attest to the fact that sealions aren’t stupid. If they see hundreds of boat surrounding them all day in the spring and nothing bad happens to them they’re not going anywhere. Once a few well placed shots ring out and there’s a few sealions dead on the rocks, the remaining ones will get the message and hightail it out of there. My only question is where do I sign up to be a shooter?
   
Sacramento River Salmon
Numbers About To Increase
The Feather River Hatchery kicked off the statewide effort to spawn returning fall chinook salmon in early October. Department of Fish and Game hatchery workers took more than half a million eggs during the first week of spawning. Over the next two months, the Feather River Hatchery took approximately 12 million eggs in order to produce a total of 10 million chinook salmon for release next spring.
    The Feather River Hatchery was the first of the three major state-run hatcheries in the Sacramento River system to start spawning operations. Mokelumne and Nimbus hatcheries’ spawning operations also commenced in October and November. Together, the three hatcheries should harvest enough eggs to raise more than 20 million young salmon for release into the Sacramento River and its tributaries next spring.
    Around the state, there are eight state-run hatcheries, all of which will participate in the salmon spawning effort. Those hatcheries, along with federally run hatcheries, will together be responsible for the release of 40 million juvenile salmon into California waters. These massive spawning efforts were put in place over the last 50 years to offset fish losses caused by dams that block salmon from spawning in historically used waters.
    Today, hatcheries are multi-million dollar operations that employ scientific methods to spawn, rear and return healthy young salmon to various river systems each year. At each hatchery, a team of managers and staff monitor the progress of batches of eggs that will become tomorrow’s returning salmon, while pathologists work with each hatchery to ensure fish health. Once the young salmon reach 2 to 4 inches in length, one quarter of stock will be marked and implanted with a coded wire tag prior to release. DFG biologists use the information from the tags to chart their survival, catch and return rates.
  
JD: Watch for big returns a few years down the road in California rivers. As a sport fisherman I’m glad there will be fish to catch, but as someone who wants more wild fish in the rivers this make me cringe. Pumping out cookie cutter salmon by the truckload isn’t the same as removing a few dams and letting the wild fish get back to their spawning habitat.

Potshots, Bycatch and Lost Trips

Charter Boat Takes A Potshot At Sealion
“If you’ve ever wanted to shoot a sealion, now’s the time.” That’s what official court documents say was the quote from Captain Scott A. Hatcher to a customer just before providing the customer with a .410 shotgun and ammo as they approached a buoy near Winchester Bay that was serving as a sunning spot for sealions.
    The client took aim and shot the sealion directly in the head with the small powered shotgun. The sealion looked to have swam off after the shot, but the health of that particular sealion is undetermined and will most likely remain that way.
    Hatcher, the operator of Scott Hatcher River Guide and Ocean Charters, plead guilty October 22 to a District Court in Eugene to the unlawful taking of a marine mammal. The court sentenced Hatcher to one year probation, suspended his licenses for three months, ordered him to turn over the weapon involved in the shooting, and to add insult to injury made him donate $1,250 to the Oregon Zoo Endangered Species Fund and another $1,250 to the person who turned him in to law enforcement.
    U.S. Attorney Dwight Holton said in an Oregon Department of Justice news release, “As a charter operator, the defendant should have known better. You can’t just go taking potshots at protected marine mammals.”
   
JD: You have a boat full of clients you’re responsible for and you provide one of them with a gun to commit an illegal act in front of the rest of them assuming you wont get caught? Talk about asking for it. It’s known I’m no sealion advocate, but come on. This is a little too blatant and what about a fine for the guy who pulled the trigger?
   
Bycatch In Alaska Out Of Control
Last year it’s estimated that 58,336 king salmon were accidentally harvested by commercial fishermen in the Gulf of Alaska, and it could get worse before it gets better. Fortunately the high numbers of fish being caught that aren’t the target species may lead to new fishing restrictions and rule changes.
    “By far this is the largest bycatch we have ever seen,” said Josh Keaton, a fisheries manager with the National Marine Fisheries Service. “Hopefully it means a lot of kings are out there to be caught, and they ran into a big pack of them.” In years past, 20,000 kings caught as bycatch was the average, which is why there’s so much alarm about the number being over double that. Most of which came from the pollock trawl fishery in September.
    Bycatch numbers are an estimation developed by data gathered by fisheries observers onboard the boats and numbers like this are likely to lead to a rule change or at least new restrictions to the pollock fishery, but it doesn’t look like it will be anytime in the near future.
    Because the bycatch numbers were so big this year, the lower 48 states are getting concerned as well. It’s known that fish going to the upper Willamette and Lower Columbia have been victims of the pollock fishery and it can only be surmised that some of the endangered stocks on the West Coast are being accidentally killed as well.
   
JD: A close friend, who asked to remain nameless, is one of the observers on a pollock boat in the Alaskan Gulf. He has been telling me for years the pollock fishery kills so many kings it makes him sick and the numbers are far higher than what’s reported. Time to make a serious change.

Rogue River Guides Want Money For Lost Trips
A few Southern Oregon fishing guides who call the Rogue River their home river have had to cancel a large portion of their fishing trips due to the muddy water caused by the removal of the Gold Ray Dam and they want the county to reimburse them for their losses.
    Typically a guide makes somewhere between $300 and $500 bucks a day guiding the Rogue in the fall, but due to the deconstruction of the Gold Ray the river was too muddy and full of debris to allow fishing and the guides were losing money each day they couldn’t fish. The guides are also arguing that many of their clients are return clients so not only are they losing clients this year, but they may be losing clients in the future as well. Most of the guides aren’t making a lot of money, rather just getting by, so losing current and future trips can be detrimental to their business.
    The guides are saying that they know the water will take quite a while for the effects of the dam to be completely over with, but the question is how long? Local guide Vernon Grieve has been a bit of a spokesperson for the other guides who feel like they deserve compensation. “They keep saying it’s a short-term thing, but they haven’t said what short term means,” Grieve said. “Nobody knows what short-term is.”
    About a dozen guides have said they fully intend on taking the county to state court and suing them if part of the 5-million-dollar federal stimulus grant used to remove the dam isn’t used to compensate the guides.
    C.W. Smith, the Jackson County commissioner, says the removal of the dam is going to be a huge benefit for the guides in the long run.
    “Should we ask them in turn for a part of their additional benefits from their new river trips,” says Smith. “They need to man-up,” Smith said. “I’m sick and tired of people looking for deep pockets.”
   
JD: The long-term effects of the dam removal are so beneficial to the guides it’s a little nearsighted to be complaining about the loss of revenue for one season.
   
Cowlitz Salmon Get Ride To Spawning Grounds
With a strong run of fall chinook salmon returning to the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery, state fishery managers will transport up to 5,000 hatchery fish upriver and release them above the last of three dams on the Cowlitz River.
    Working in conjunction with Tacoma Power, which owns and operates two of those dams, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife hopes to reestablish a naturally spawning chinook run upriver from the Cowlitz Falls Dam near Randle.
    Starting this week, tanker trucks carrying adult chinook will make daily trips from the salmon hatchery to the release site above the dam, said Jim Scott, assistant director for WDFW’s Fish Program. The relocation effort, funded by Tacoma Power, is expected to continue into December.
    “This is just the first step in restoring naturally spawning fall chinook salmon stocks upriver from the Cowlitz Falls Dam,” Scott said. “We’re already working to reintroduce spring chinook salmon, coho salmon and winter steelhead to the upper Cowlitz River. This is a good time to move ahead with fall chinook as well.”
   
JD: Anything to help fish repopulate on their own is good for long-term fish health and since I doubt those dams are going anywhere anytime soon I’m a fan of giving the fish a lift.

Toxin, River Rerouting, Frankenfish, & New Rules

Toxin in Bacteria Causing Otter Death

A toxin produced by freshwater bacteria is entering the ocean and poisoning sea otters, say Department of Fish and Game and UC Santa Cruz scientists.
    "This study is significant because it is the first to establish a connection between freshwater contamination by the toxin microcystin and marine mammal mortality," said Melissa Miller, lead author and senior wildlife veterinarian at the DFG Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center in Santa Cruz. "This land-to-sea link has important implications for marine life and human health."
    In a paper published on Sept. 10 in PLoS ONE, the researchers reported that the deaths of at least 21 southern sea otters (a federally listed threatened species found only in California) were linked to microcystin. The toxin is produced by a bacteria called microcystis, also known as blue-green algae, which thrives in warm, stagnant, nutrient-rich water.
    Coauthor Raphael Kudela, professor of ocean sciences at UCSC, said the team found high concentrations of microcystin in lakes bordering Monterey Bay and in rivers that flow into the bay. These rivers include the Salinas, Pajaro and San Lorenzo rivers. The toxin was also detected in ocean water at the Santa Cruz wharf.
    Many of the microcystin-poisoned sea otters were recovered near river mouths and harbors. While most of the cases occurred within Monterey Bay, microcystin-poisoned sea otters were also found along the Big Sur and south-central California coastlines. Microcystin poisoning can cause acute liver failure or damage other tissues and can be fatal.

JD: I can’t help but think that if this toxin thrives in stagnant water and has been discovered in high enough levels to kill otters around the Monterey Bay area it could have something to do with water being taken from rivers in that area for agriculture. More water in the rivers and less in fields means more water flow and cleaner water. Wouldn’t that make for fewer toxins? Just a thought.

Farmer Caught Rerouting River

Today U. S. Attorney Dwight C. Holton announced the conviction of Gary R. West Jr. for unlawfully discharging fill material into a stream, in violation of the Clean Water Act, and illegally taking threatened coho salmon, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. West pled guilty and was sentenced before U.S. District Judge Ancer L. Haggerty on March 29, 2010.
    West, 42, of Lake Creek, admitted that he intentionally re-routed the flow of South Fork Little Butte Creek, a critical salmon habitat, by using heavy equipment in the creek during the fall of 2007. Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) coho salmon spawn in the creek. The conduct took place on a portion of the South Fork Little Butte Creek located near Eagle Point, Oregon.
    According to the two-count Information, West used a bulldozer to push fill from a gravel bar to create a berm to divert the stream flow into a newly excavated channel during the time period of October and November 2007. The creation of the berm caused the unauthorized taking of coho salmon redds. Individuals are required to obtain state and federal permits before conducting "in-stream" work, in part to minimize impacts to threatened and endangered species.
    Judge Ancer L. Haggerty sentenced West to three years of probation. As part of the plea agreement negotiated with the government, West agreed to restore the altered reach of South Fork Little Butte Creek by planting native vegetation and removing the gravel berm, under federal supervision.
    "Safeguarding ESA-listed fish and wildlife populations is one of this Agency’s top priorities,” said Vicki Nomura, Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Office of Law Enforcement. "This successful prosecution comes at a time when the importance of protecting critical habitat for salmon as well as steelhead is on the minds of many commercial and recreational fishermen throughout the Northwest."
    "Coho salmon are a gift we have enjoyed for generations beginning with Native Americans and continuing through today. Illegal habitat destruction threatens to wipe out this gift forever and we won’t tolerate it," said U.S. Attorney Dwight C. Holton.

JD: Salmon can’t catch a break! If it’s not abandoned gill nets floating around bays and rivers killing fish or water being pumped out of already low rivers, it’s careless farmers digging up redds and killing them before they even have a chance to be born. Salmon are resilient, but no matter how tough they are, they can’t stand up to a constant barrage of abuse.

Frankenfish Meeting Stiff Opposition

Genetically altered chinook salmon seems safe for human consumption according to an advisory committee looking into the engineered fish for the Food and Drug Administration. Now it’s a matter of a few more advised tests by a committee put together to look into the environmental impact and human safety before it hits markets across the country. If the chinook is deemed safe for human consumption by the FDA it will be the first time an animal this genetically altered has been approved.
    AquaBounty is the Massachusetts-based company that “invented” the altered salmon. Its Chief Executive, Ron Stotish, said in a hearing that not only is the new salmon completely safe for human consumption, but it’s also environmentally safe. So far the FDA has agreed with him, but there is plenty of opposition.
    Critics of the program are insisting that there could be serous allergic reactions in humans and that the “frankenfish” as it’s been coined by critics, will also pose a serious threat to wild-salmon populations and could eventually destroy wild-salmon stocks. These groups have asked the committee to decline the application to market the fish on the grounds that it needs further testing to ensure safety for humans and wild salmon.
    The FDA and committee have not been able to determine any reason as of yet as to why the salmon should be banned, but opposing groups are still firmly standing their ground. Their strongest footholds are that the testing has come from far too small a sample size, which is giving  inconclusive results and that the testing doesn’t account for what might happen to future generations years down the road. Most people opposing the “frankenfish” believe the risks are far too high without much more in-depth research.
    Whether the fish is approved for commercial sale or not, it’s not clear if the public will be interested in buying the altered fish. There’s already a widespread negative feeling towards engineered feed in the public eye and a fish that is made to grow abnormally fast tends to make consumers cautious.
    If the fish is approved it is expected to be on shelves within two years.

JD: I understand engineering vegetables to grow in cold weather can help feed people who wouldn’t have food otherwise, but the risk of genetically altering a salmon to grow faster seems quite a bit higher.

New Rules For Fishing Near Oregon Hatcheries

The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission adopted permanent rules in August restricting public access to ODFW fish hatcheries, including the Cedar Creek Access adjacent to the Sandy Hatchery near Portland. Under the new rules the public are not allowed access to ODFW hatcheries between 10 p.m. and 4 a.m.
    According to John Thorpe, ODFW assistant fish propagation manager, the restrictions were prompted by increasing concerns about trespassing, poaching and safety, primarily at the Sandy Hatchery and Cedar Creek Access.
   Each September, the hatchery and adjacent access area are crowded with anglers targeting coho salmon returning to the hatchery to spawn.
   The action by the Commission now gives the Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division troopers the authority they need to enforce public-access restrictions and deal with other potential problems. The new rules apply at all ODFW hatcheries throughout the state.
    In addition to restricting nighttime access, the rules also prohibit open fires and camping unless specifically authorized by the hatchery manager, and require all dogs be on a leash while inside the main hatchery grounds.
     

JD:This is a great rule. I’ve been around the Cedar Creek Hatchery a few times and it never left a good taste in my mouth. Glo Balls flying in the dark, 8-foot leaders on over half the rods and of course excessive hook-setting on every tap. There are plenty of honest fishermen there, but adding this rule shouldn’t hurt them one bit.

Tax Breaks, Water Rights and Excited Biologists

Tax Break For Commercial Fishermen

Legislation extending the Salmon Product Development Tax Credit is heading to the governor. The Alaska State Senate today unanimously passed House Bill 344. House Finance Committee Vice-Chair Bill Thomas, R-Haines, sponsored the bill. The House unanimously passed the bill April 7.

“The tax credit was intended to spur Alaska salmon marketability and improve quality, which it has. Alaska salmon is considered the best in the world today and I’d like to believe this credit is one of the reasons why,” Thomas said. “Our salmon industry is beginning to recover from years of low values and competition from farmed fish. Extending the credit four years will allow the industry to continue the progress being made in developing and producing top-shelf salmon products.”

The bill also adds ice machines to the list of investments that qualify for the tax credit. Thomas says icing fish is a common practice in Southeast Alaska and is expanding to other fisheries like Bristol Bay and Western Alaska. He says icing preserves freshness and quality, which can bring better prices for fishermen since processors only want A-1 quality fish for value-added production.

The Salmon Product Development Tax Credit program allows applicants to claim a credit on their annual fisheries business tax for 50% of the purchase costs of eligible equipment, with a cap at 50% of the applicant’s tax liability. Eligible equipment includes those used for curing and brining, fillet lines, skinning machines, and vacuum packaging machines-among others.

JD: I have mixed feeling on this one. I despise commercial fishing, but I’m fairly convinced farmed fish are more detrimental to the long-term health of salmon. Talk about picking the lesser of two evils.

Rogue River Water Rights Battle

A very fishy section of the Rogue no longer is owned by the state according to Jackson County Judge Ron Grensky’s ruling. This case that started in courts in 2008 when it was declared that the Rogue River was deemed navigable, meaning it was owned by Oregon citizens since statehood from Lost Creek Dam to the mouth of Grave Creek near Galice. Judge Grensky made the decision to no longer consider the river “navigable” so access will be severely limited.

This may not seem like a major issue at first, but rafters and fishermen who used to be able to get out of their boats and walk the bank to relax or fish are now considered to be trespassing on one of the approximately 3000 privately owned properties in this stretch of river.

For years landowners along the river have felt their property lines should go either to the middle of the river or all the way to the other bank. They justify this thinking because the river is constantly shifting and moving causing their property to shrink or grow depending on what Mother Nature decides to do. After much debate and arguing they have finally found a judge who sees things their way. Of course Tony Green, spokesman for the State Department of Justice who represented the Oregon Department of Lands in the case declined comment only mentioning the likelihood that this case will be appealed.

JD: I can sympathize with landowners, but the river is moving water, the fish in it are moving fish, and everyone knows riverbeds move depending on a number of factors. If you’re going to own land on the Rogue you should just know people climbing around the banks behind your house comes with the blessing of living on such a pristine and gorgeous river. Hopefully this ruling gets overturned.

Columbia River Biologists Excited About Fish Numbers

Biologists who research Columbia River returns are excited about what they’re seeing. The number of salmon and steelhead returning to the Columbia River as of July has been well above the 10-year average, giving hope to anyone who’s interested in the health of these fish.

These numbers are taken at Bonneville Dam meaning the numbers reflect fish returning to upper river tributaries, but it’s encouraging throughout the river considering there are 12 species of wild salmon and steelhead that are listed under the Endangered Species Act in the Columbia River Basin.

As of July the salmon return was 140% of the 10-year average and the sockeye salmon that once seemed beyond the point of no return have had 353,044 return over Bonneville which far surpasses the highest recorded return. Fortunately for steelhead addicts like myself, as of the same date the steelhead were at 244% of their average return.

The director of the fish ecology division at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center in Seattle, John Ferguson, commented about the impressive return numbers. “The overall pattern looks good. Our ocean survey is just one indicator, and we caught a lot of fish. So overall we are looking for average to better than average returns in the future.”

JD: This is about the most exciting news I could possibly ask for, but let’s take a quick look as to why these record numbers are happening. Sure there have been a lot of contributors, but the one factor that effects all the fish the same is the amount of water let out of Bonneville Dam. Give the fish plenty of cool water to swim in and more of them will come back!

River Gill Nets Equally Deadly

There’s no doubt the “ghost nets” abandoned out in the Puget Sound are at fault for killing all kinds of marine life, from fish to birds and from seals to shell fish, but at least they have been noticed and an effort made to remove them thanks to federal funding. What’s recently been turning heads are the same nets, but in a place no one had thought to look.

Members of the CCA’s North Sound Chapter, along with other concerned volunteers, took to the Nooksack River and found at least 62 abandoned gill nets draped in or around the river. Executive Director of the Coastal Conservation Association (CCA) Pacific Northwest Chapter Brian Irwin says regarding the Nooksack situation, “It is a well-publicized problem with derelict nets in Puget Sound, but the situation in rivers like the Nooksack was an eye-opener.”

When Irwin contacted Washington State Fish and Wildlife about the situation they admitted to knowing about the problem, but not being able to do anything about it because of lack of funding, even though the nets being in an area much smaller than the Sound makes the nets far more likely to be deadly. The Nooksack Tribe and Lummi Nation were both notified of the problem and asked to clean up their mess. Both groups claimed to have drifted their section of the river after the notification and according to Jeff June, the vice president/treasurer of the Natural Resources Consultants, they did a good job.

“A lot of folks in fish advocacy know the challenges they face, but it is the general public that didn’t notice or understand the damages these nets had caused until it was publicized recently in the media,” Irwin said.

JD: I’m sure glad Jeff June thinks the tribes did a “good job” cleaning up the nets. Did they do a good job leaving them there in the first place too? How about banning them for good when such terrible neglect is practiced? Nets left adrift in the Sound are deadly, but those are needles in a haystack compared to the guillotines left in a river wide enough to cast across.

Ultimate Herring Found Near Sweden

When looking in the water, Kurt Ove Eriksson first thought the strange-looking object was a piece of plastic, but after retrieving the object was shocked to find that it wasn’t trash at all. Instead it was the body of a Regalecus glesne, or king herring measuring almost 12 feet long.

The herring was found off Sweden’s western coast, approximately 55 miles from the small fishing village of Bovallstrand.

The last time a king herring was found anywhere near Sweden was 1879 and not much has changed as far as knowledge about the almost undiscovered creature. It’s said that these fish live in over 1000 meters and can grow to be 12 meters long but those are only rough estimates. This beast is almost as mythological as the Loc Ness Monster and it may be a while before another one washes up on a shore somewhere.

JD: All I can think about is what kind of roll I’d get on it if I plug-cut this bad boy and sent him down. Maybe a plug-cut king herring is what it would take to get Loc Ness interested. Big bait, big fish, right?

Fishing Indians Get More Freedom

It’s bad enough that Indian tribes up and down the Columbia River have the ability to drape gill nets across the river and essentially poach and kill all kinds of salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon, as well as other unfortunate species, with no regard for the long-term health of the fish runs, but the Washington State Court of Appeals gave them a little more.

In June 2008 Yakima Tribe member Lester Ray Jim was given fishing citations for unlawful use of a net and for retaining undersized sturgeon while trailering his boat at the Maryhill Tribe Access Site. This access site is one of two dozen access sites approved by Congress in 1988 to replace customary fishing grounds lost due to the construction of dams on the Columbia in years past. It’s common knowledge that Fish and Wildlife officers have no jurisdiction on tribal lands, but this particular site is not tribal land but simply a tribal access point to the Columbia.

Yakima Tribal attorney Tom Zeilman argued to the State Court of Appeals that sites such as these should fall under the same rules as reservation land and the officer had no right to issue any citations to a Tribal member in the first place.

Assistant attorney general Mike Grossman argued on behalf of the State that the access point was never given to the tribe under the pretence that it would have the same rules as reservation land. Instead, it was simply a point of access and should be considered no different than any other piece of non-reservation property, meaning that the State still has the full jurisdiction. Appellate judges ruled in favor of the tribal member and the citations were thrown out by the court.

JD: Let me get this straight. We issued tribes access points but we have no jurisdiction over them? Someone from the State dropped the ball when writing up that treaty.

It’s unbelievable that we still respect these treaties at all. When they were drafted there were plenty of fish and things looked good. Now the numbers aren’t there but we can’t make any changes. Things change and the tribes should be forced to change with them. Arguing, “that’s the way it used to be” is completely BS. It used to be okay to hate someone for their skin color, smoking was thought to have no health risks, and shooting at Indians that were getting too close to your covered wagon were all acceptable practice. Times change and things need to change along with them.

Potential Mega Mine Has Clear Results

Because of all the intense controversy about the potential Pebble Mine being built in headwaters of the Bristol Bay Watershed scientists have taken interest and done a little proactive research to determine what will happen to the Bristol Bay sockeye if building of the mine goes through.
Let’s just say it’s not looking good for the fish or the fishermen.

The results of one particular study were published in the June issue of Nature. The findings showed that diversity produces resilience in a species which is fairly fundamental, but the research also explains that had the mine been built even a few decades earlier it’s very possible the sockeye might now be extinct. This is a huge statement considering the fish this study is claiming could very well no longer exist is the world’s largest salmon fishery, annually bringing in somewhere close to 100 million dollars.

Ray Hilborn, a biologist for the University of Washington, was quoted as saying, “The long-term maintenance of the Bristol Bay sockeye fishery has sometimes been almost totally dependent on the Kvichak watershed,” where the mine would be located. If the entire Kvichak watershed was made nonproductive, then historically, that would have been totally disastrous.”

Besides the immediate destruction of spawning grounds by sediment washed down by the construction of the mine, the Nature study also explained how the billions of tons of toxic waste that would be produced by the mine would effect the fish. This is the same waste that would supposedly be contained behind giant walls constructed to do just that, but because of the torrential rain that is so common in the region, would act more like coffee filters instead of dams. The toxic waste would seep through the sponge-like tundra in the area and eventually right into the riverbed where eggs laid by the salmon would be sitting. This would inevitably get into the salmons’ systems and not only destroy their ability to navigate, but also reproduce.

JD: The question that has to be asked is do we want millions of dollars of salmon or billions worth of copper and gold? It doesn’t get much easier than that. As many times as scientists research the potential effects of the potential Pebble Mine it keeps pointing to one or the other. Never both.

Turning in Tag Turns Into Great Day on the River

Richard Tejeda of San Jose recently caught his first wild steelhead on the Gualala River, while on a free guided fishing trip sponsored by Trout Unlimited of California. Tejeda won the trip through a Department of Fish and Game (DFG) online contest encouraging steelhead anglers to submit their 2009 Steelhead Fishing Report-Restoration Cards via DFG’s web site.

“Wow, it was great and the river is fantastic,” said Tejeda. “We tried to fish the Russian River Wednesday but it was blown out so guide Kent MacIntosh took me to the Gualala River on Friday. It was like two free trips.”

MacIntosh is the Northern California Grassroots Organizer for Trout Unlimited of California. He is also a guide specializing in steelhead fishing in Northern California. He donated the fishing trip for the winner, in conjunction with Trout Unlimited of California.

“Helping DFG get the most accurate and timely information to manage California’s steelhead resource is a priority for Trout Unlimited of California,” said MacIntosh. “It was a pleasure to fish with Richard.”

Tejeda caught his wild steelhead drifting an orange Corky with a touch of roe. The river was in excellent shape and steelhead were hanging below the mouths of the creeks. Tejeda also lost a second steelhead that made numerous jumps before throwing the barbless hook.

California Trout Unlimited sponsored the “Free Guided Fishing Trip Contest” to encourage anglers to submit their Steelhead Report-Restoration Cards online. In addition to being quicker, easier and more convenient for anglers, online submissions enable steelhead managers to more efficiently access and tabulate statewide data. The report card provides in-depth information on where steelhead are caught, the number caught and angling effort.

JD: Sending your tag back to the State at the end of the year seems insignificant, but it gives Fish and Wildlife a chance to analyze important information. Any extra data will help keep fish in the river and give us something to chase in the future.

Working on Fraser River Returns

Due to the consistent decline in numbers The British Columbia Minister of Fisheries and Ocean has officially chosen someone to lead a commission created to deal with and essentially determine the fate of Fraser River sockeye. That person is British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Bruce Cohen.

To help the Cohen-led group get sockeye runs back to the healthy levels they once were, the Canadian government suspended all treaties having to do with the removal of sockeye from the Fraser until a plan has been made and put into action.

As of now there is no forecast for the 2010 sockeye run. Primarily because the factors causing the decline have yet to be determined. The leading candidates so far are everything from farmed fish to a warming ocean making restoring the runs a tough job for Cohen. Without knowing, narrowing down the causes stopping them will be like finding a needle in a haystack.

An officer for the Fisheries and Ocean in the Pacific region in Canada, Lara Sloan, has made it clear that finding the answer as to why the numbers of returning fish are slipping is barely in the works, but they’re planning to make progress right away. Sloan was quoted saying, “The conservation and sustainable use of the resource are Fisheries and Ocean Canada’s first priorities in the management of Fraser River sockeye fisheries.

“DFO works closely with First Nations, commercial and recreational fisheries advisory bodies and environmental interests to establish pre-season fishing plans for salmon and other species, and consults regularly with First Nations on a wide range of subjects,” said Sloan.

JD: I couldn’t think of a better way to study a fishery than to disallow fishing for a while until the causes of the decline are determined. It’s pretty simple science to eliminate as many variables as possible to determine a control. If that means no fishing for a while to make sure we have enough for the future I’ll be the first one to lay down my rod. I’m quite confident the numbers won’t come storming back when sport fishermen take a break.

Snohomish River Salmon and Steelhead Are Full Of…

One day the river is beautiful and pristine with ripping current cascading over and around green boulders and moss covered fallen trees and the next it’s toxic goo slurping and gurgling as it oozes along. That may be a little extreme but it’s close to what happened on the Snohomish River when a dairy waste lagoon dike gave way and dumped what looks like at least thousands of gallons of untreated cattle waste into the river. Possibly millions. The faulty lagoon that sat at Bartelheimer Brothers dairy had a capacity of around 21 million gallons before it burst.

People were immediately urged to stay away from the Snohomish, due to the high rates of E. coli that is often present in cow dung, in hopes of reducing the chances of people getting sick.

The waste dumped into French Slough which filters into the Snohomish River. Because of seepage and possible contamination, families who have private wells should consult the Department of Health to make sure their water source is safe for consumption.

The 13-year-old manure lagoon was 15 feet tall but its bottom is 5 feet below ground level so all the waste that was about ground level escaped while the other waste remained in the pool. The 750 dairy cows on the Bartelheimer Brothers were the main contributors to the waste pool, but the Bartelheimer Brothers have been anything but passive when trying to solve the problem.

“We’re doing everything we can to respond to this lagoon failure,” said Jason Bartelheimer. “The farm has additional manure-storage capacity, which we will rely on during this immediate-response period.”

WDFW has been seriously researching the Snohomish, which was closed to fishing when the spill took place, to see what effects the spill might have on the salmon and steelhead in the river. Early research indicates the river contains high levels of “dissolved oxygen” which are very hard on juvenile fish. Fortunately, there haven’t been significant numbers of dead fish floating in the river or in the side channels.

JD: Cattle have always been guilty of adding their waste into river systems, as well as stomping all over spawning grounds and tearing up redds, but I can’t blame the cattle. Most of us love a good burger or a cold glass of milk which means dairies aren’t going anywhere, but a little foresight when building a waste lagoon on a farm bordering a river would have been nice.

Bird Hazing Begins on the Siuslaw

Hazing of double-crested cormorants that eat juvenile salmon and steelhead on their migration to sea began April 24 on the Siuslaw River estuary and continued daily through June 20, 2010. Most activity occurred upriver from the town of Florence.

Hazing of cormorants consists of disturbing the birds, scaring them without harming them, with swift-moving watercraft in an effort to protect vulnerable naturally-produced and hatchery juvenile salmonids during their peak out-migration. Hazing was conducted by volunteers from the Florence-area Salmon Trout Enhancement Program under the direction of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff.

ODFW staff and members of the Florence STEP group monitored the effectiveness of hazing by collecting bird distribution information and will attempt to determine where the birds go when they are moved off the estuary.

In addition to hazing efforts, ODFW and partners are engaged in research and monitoring of fish-eating birds in relation to their impact on vulnerable fish runs, looking for long-term solutions. However, management of avian predators on fish populations is complex and requires balancing the needs of competing species within the guidelines of federal laws that include the Endangered Species and the Migratory Bird Treaty acts.

Cormorants are protected by international treaty and federal law.

JD: ODFW will monitor the effectiveness? So watch birds fly off and land 50 feet away? This is a stupid idea and a complete waste of time and money. There’s way too many birds and water to cover. Birds deal with boats driving around everyday. Why would adding an extra boat make any difference at all to the number of smolts taken?

Wallowa Lake Kokanee Break Records Again

Wan Teece of Enterprise, OR caught a kokanee weighing 8.23 pounds, measuring 26.25 inches in length with a girth of 16 inches at Wallowa Lake on March 24, breaking the Oregon state record for kokanee, and possibly a national record, too. “From what we currently know, this kokanee is the largest ever caught in the United States,” says Bill Knox, assistant district fish biologist in Enterprise. “Only the current world-record kokanee from Lake Okanogan in British Columbia is bigger.” The record kokanee was caught by Wan while she was out fishing with her husband Jack. They were trolling near the middle of the lake with a Jack Lloyd blade set-up dragging a Double-Whammy lure with two ounces of lead to keep it down deep. Just one month previously on Feb. 26, 2010, Gene Thiel caught a 7-pound 8-ounce, 25-inch kokanee at Wallowa Lake that broke the previous state record. The 73-year-old Joseph resident caught the fish while jigging from a canoe in 100 feet of water when conditions were icy. The previous kokanee record was set only in July 2009, for a 7-pound 1-ounce fish caught by former Joseph resident Jerry Logosz, also while trolling in Wallowa Lake.

JD: Congratulations on the giant kokanee!

Gluttonous Sealions Removed for Good

Rubber bullets, beanbag rounds from shotguns, and sinking explosives, aka Seal Bombs, have been tried time and time again to haze sealions (that have learned to gather at Bonneville) in an attempt to get them away from the fish ladders where they’re picking off spring chinook as they make their way through the dam, but it hasn’t been enough.

The sealion populations gathering at the base of the dam haven’t been declining as hoped. On the contrary, they’ve been dramatically increasing from one year to the next as more and more sealions join the party. Robert Stansell, a biologist with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, has this to say about the California sealions that are gathering below Bonneville, “They learn. They come up here and know it’s a good place to eat, and sooner or later the salmon are going to arrive.” It’s this repeating occurrence and the ineffectiveness of other less-harmful methods that has sealed the fate of some of the worst repeat offenders.

As of now, 63 sealions have been classified as repeat offenders. These particular animals are identified by scars, scrapes, or numbers branded on them by researchers as the ones that are brazen. Not only are they not fazed by the hazing, but they are bolder than others, taking salmon right out of the gill nets and picking excited fishermen’s lines clean time and time again. These salmon-eaters have become top candidates to be euthanized. Sealions have been protected since a 1972 federal law was passed, fortunately an amendment leaves the loophole open for them to be killed or captured and removed if the states request it. This happened in 2006 when Washington, Oregon, Indian tribes, and commercial fishermen all joined together. This isn’t just an attempt to kill sealions because it cools the tempers of angry fishermen, it’s an attempt to rescue the endangered salmon runs to at least three rivers upstream of the dam and to protect the multibillion-dollar salmon-recovery investment. Supporters of the program are saying completely eliminating certain sealions is working, but it doesn’t change the fact that an estimated 4,489 salmon were eaten last year by sealions at Bonneville which was the highest number since researchers started counting in 2002. Doug Hatch of the inter-tribal commission hit the nail on the head when he said, “All of the counts that you hear, all of the impact on salmon, is based on what they can see from the dam, that doesn’t account for the whole 150 river miles below the dam.” It’s obviously much worse.

JD: It’s about time some of these fat pinnipeds were permanently removed from the area. Anyone who’s fished at Bonneville has seen the depressing scene as these eating machines tear up one salmon after another right in front of their eyes. We’re spending thousands on tags and licenses in hopes it will be used to help salmon recovery and finally the move was made to spend a few cents on a bullet and really make a change.

State Study Shows Low Pesticide Levels In Rivers

Concentrations of pesticides found in salmon-bearing waters in five Washington State watersheds are low and generally below levels of concern for most pesticides, according to a newly-released report from the state departments of Ecology (Ecology) and Agriculture (WSDA). The report’s authors concluded that pesticide concentrations found between 2006 and 2008 are not expected to directly affect salmon. However, pesticide concentrations found at some sites may harm aquatic invertebrate populations that serve as a food source for salmon. Since 2003, the joint-agency program has collected weekly samples from salmon-bearing waters in Washington that represent both agricultural and urban landscapes. The program is one of the most intensive pesticide-monitoring efforts for surface waters in the country. “This pesticide-monitoring project provides policymakers with a valuable tool to inform their decision making,” said WSDA Director Dan Newhouse. “Federal or state agencies and lawmakers need accurate data about the low levels of pesticides present in the waters of our state as they evaluate the effectiveness of our current regulations and laws.” Rob Duff, manager of Ecology’s Environmental Assessment Program said, “This news is encouraging, however we need to consider the combined effects from multiple pesticides and other stressors such as higher stream temperatures and low-dissolved oxygen.” During the three-year period, the state analyzed 1,194 samples for more than 160 pesticides and pesticide-breakdown products. Analysis detected 74 pesticides or break-down products, with nearly all present at concentrations so low that they did not violate state or federal water-quality standards. Periodically, the program detected six currently registered insecticides (permethrin, chlorpyrifos, diazinon, azinphos-methyl, malathion and endosulfan) at levels that do not meet state or federal water quality standards and it was the lower Yakima Valley sites that had the greatest number of pesticide detections that did not meet water-quality standards.

JD: Hearing positive data after extensive research is always welcome news. Hopefully if we can continue to keep cows out of rivers, chemicals from being poured down storm drains, and pesticides from seeping off agricultural lands we might continue to get good reports.

Concerned Steelheaders Gather Attempting to Save Native Steelhead

With numbers of native steelhead on the decline (in some areas) many avid fishermen have been battling for the fish in an attempt to raise awareness about the diminishing populations and hopefully conserve and rebuild the remaining runs. Recently members of the Internet forum piscatorialpursuits.com have taken this battle to their hometowns.

Long-time outdoor writer and former author of this column Dave Vedder and Piscatorial Pursuits forum moderator Ryley Fee have both gone out of their way to set up meetings with local restaurants who have had “Wild Steelhead” on their menus in hopes of getting the fish off dinner plates. When kindly and professionally confronted, the owner of the Duvall Grill, Eric Roberts, was quick to take action. It was explained that the fish he was receiving were native steelhead caught in tribal nets from rivers on the Olympic Peninsula. Most likely the Quinault or the Hoh.

“I guess I just wasn’t aware,” said Roberts. “I steelhead-fish and I’ve never kept a wild one in my life so when they showed up at the restaurant I felt a little dirty about serving them. I was under the assumption it wasn’t the best thing, but probably wasn’t the worst thing either and I figured there must be a reason it’s okay or they wouldn’t have come here. It’s pretty obvious to me now my awareness wasn’t where it needed to be and I never quite put two and two together.”

At Italianissimo Ristorante owner Kent Betts had the same reaction when approached about the wild steelhead on his menu. “I just didn’t know. There was no public outcry or any concern shown to make me aware,” said Betts. “I know my fish houses and there’s a lot of them with a ton of different stuff. I can find something else to serve. Now that I know I won’t be buying native steelhead again, I don’t buy Chilean sea bass for the same reason.”

After both restaurants took the fish off the menu, emails were circulated and phone calls were made among local fishermen and a date was set to make each restaurant the home for telling fish stories and drinks for the designated night. Both evenings had excellent turnouts and great times were had by all.

“I love doing something like this for a group that has this much passion for their sport. It’s a win-win for both sides. They help the fish and I get to meet a few new faces and sell a couple extra beers,” said Betts. Roberts felt the same way about the appreciation night at his place.

“You can’t make the Indians stop killing them, but you sure don’t have to buy wild steelhead from them,” said Roberts.

JD: Two polite and educated conversations took steelhead off the menu and two great restaurants were absolutely packed from happy hour until closing. You couldn’t have a more ideal situation for both sides. I can only imagine what would happen if more and more fishermen took appropriate action like this. People want to help, but without taking the word to them, they are simply unaware. Thanks again, Kent and Eric!

Sacramento Delta Water - Rights Scandal

The Department of the Interior has released the draft agenda for the National Academy of Sciences panel reviewing the biological opinion mandating reduced diversions of fresh water from the Sacramento Delta to protect Delta fish populations.
The panel's list of outside experts has struck the environmental and fishing community with its blatant bias in favor of agricultural and urban water users.
The "expert" invited to represent the Sacramento Delta is a representative from the "Coalition for a Sustainable Delta," an astroturf organization funded by Stewart Resnick, the billionaire owner of Paramount Farms, a San Joaquin Valley agribusiness. The group is housed in Resnick's Paramount Farms headquarters, and three of its four officers are Paramount employees.
"This is an insult to Delta residents who will be most affected by the decisions of this panel," said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla of Restore the Delta. Delta farmers and Delta cities rely on water from the Delta, which has suffered from water-quality problems from overpumping in previous years. The collapse of Delta fish populations has also severely impacted the Delta's and California Coastal commercial, sportfishing and tourism industries, to say nothing of the natural environment. Neither Restore the Delta staff, nor any of its 4,500 members were invited to testify before the panel.
Commercial salmon fishermen aren't even represented on the witness list. The group invited to testify before the panel is the Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, which studies skipjack and yellowfin tuna populations. These deep-sea fish breed in Mexico and in warm years are sometimes found as far north as Point Conception in Santa Barbara.  "It is ridiculous to suggest that the West Coast's largest salmon run can be replaced by increased fishing of skipjack tuna in Southern California," said Zeke Grader of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Association. "This leads me to question whether the Department of the Interior is serious about restoring the West Coast salmon fishery and the thousands of lost jobs in coastal communities in Northern California, Oregon, and Washington."
Another "expert" witness has been the source of deep skepticism because of the lack of vetting of his research. BJ Miller, who is listed on the panel as a "consultant," is expected to testify that he has found no correlation between Delta smelt populations and Delta pumping. Miller has no university affiliations and his research has never been published in a peer-reviewed scientific journal. He has been listed as a "Consulting Engineer" for agricultural groups, including the San Luis & Delta-Mendota Water Authority, a major beneficiary of Delta pumping.
The Metropolitan Water District is also slated to testify at the hearing. The district has had its plans for further housing development in Southern California impacted by the biological opinion. Observers wonder whether these industry groups even belong as expert witnesses at a hearing for an independent scientific review of the biological opinion determining freshwater flows needed to restore salmon, smelt, and other species of fish.
"We had expected better from the current administration," said Byron Leydecker of Friends of the Trinity River. "Seeing that the National Academy of Science review will be an extended process, we hope that representatives from the salmon industry,  Delta communities and the independent, university-affiliated biologists who are studying the decline of Delta fish populations will be given an equal opportunity to testify in the near future."

New Water Technology Will Change Water Releases on the Columbia

A new technique to determine when to empty reservoirs in the winter for flood control and when to refill them in the spring to provide storage for the coming year has been developed. Computer simulations showed that switching to the new management system under a warmer future climate would lessen summer losses in hydropower due to climate change by about a quarter. It would also bolster flows for fish by filling reservoirs more reliably. At the same time the approach reduced the risk of flooding. The findings are published in the Journal of Water Resources Planning and Management.
"There are anticipated dramatic changes in the snowpack which ultimately will affect when the water comes into the Columbia's reservoirs," said co-author Alan Hamlet, a UW research assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering who works in the UW's Climate Impacts Group. "We were trying to develop new tools and procedures for changing flood-control operating rules in response to these changes in hydrology, and to test how well they work in practice.
"Changes in flood-control operations constitute only one climate-change adaptation strategy," Hamlet added, "but our study shows that incorporating climate change in flood-management plans can improve the performance of existing water systems in future climates."
Predicted hydrologic changes for the Pacific Northwest, and other mountain regions, include less springtime snowpack, earlier snow melt, earlier peaks in river flow and lower summer flows. Water managers currently use a system based on historical stream-flow records to gauge when to open and close the floodgates as part of a legally binding system that seeks to balance hydropower generation, flood risks, irrigation and other needs between regions.
The authors created a computer program that uses long-term forecasts rather than historical records to recalculate when to begin filling and emptying the major storage reservoirs in the Columbia River basin in a warmer climate. They compared historical conditions with a scenario where temperatures are 2 degrees Celsius higher on average than today, a change expected in the Pacific Northwest by the second half of this century.
The simulations suggested water managers could successfully deal with warmer conditions by refilling the system's reservoirs as much as one month earlier in the spring.

Toxin in Bacteria Causing Otter Death
     A toxin produced by freshwater bacteria is entering the ocean and poisoning sea otters, say Department of Fish and Game and UC Santa Cruz scientists.
     “This study is significant because it is the first to establish a connection between freshwater contamination by the toxin microcystin and marine mammal mortality,” said Melissa Miller, lead author and senior wildlife veterinarian at the DFG Marine Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center in Santa Cruz. “This land-to-sea link has important implications for marine life and human health.”
     In a paper published on Sept. 10 in PLoS ONE, the researchers reported that the deaths of at least 21 southern sea otters (a federally listed threatened species found only in California) were linked to microcystin. The toxin is produced by a bacteria called microcystis, also known as blue-green algae, which thrives in warm, stagnant, nutrient-rich water.
     Coauthor Raphael Kudela, professor of ocean sciences at UCSC, said the team found high concentrations of microcystin in lakes bordering Monterey Bay and in rivers that flow into the bay. These rivers include the Salinas, Pajaro and San Lorenzo rivers. The toxin was also detected in ocean water at the Santa Cruz wharf.
     Many of the microcystin-poisoned sea otters were recovered near river mouths and harbors. While most of the cases occurred within Monterey Bay, microcystin-poisoned sea otters were also found along the Big Sur and south-central California coastlines. Microcystin poisoning can cause acute liver failure or damage other tissues and can be fatal.
JD: I can’t help but think that if this toxin thrives in stagnant water and has been discovered in high enough levels to kill otters around the Monterey Bay area it could have something to do with water being taken from rivers in that area for agriculture. More water in the rivers and less in fields means more water flow and cleaner water. Wouldn’t that make for fewer toxins? Just a thought.