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Limits
likely for fall chinook fishing on
Oregon
's rivers
Declining
salmon returns force officials to warn of restricted seasons, catches
MICHAEL
MILSTEIN
The
Oregonian
With much of the West
Coast already facing a shutdown of salmon fishing,
Steve Williams, assistant
fish division administrator at the Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife, said he could not recall another instance where salmon
declines were as stark and widespread along so many West Coast rivers at
once.
"It's somewhat
unprecedented to see this extent of impact," he said.
He stressed that state
fisheries officials do not expect to suspend all river fishing for
salmon, as may happen offshore. But he said limits on seasons and
catches will be more restrictive than
"There's going to be
fishing, but it's not going to be business as usual," he said.
State officials expect to
begin community meetings in April to discuss the options for minimizing
pressure on the meager numbers of salmon expected to return this year,
while also trying to maintain fishing opportunities that drive
recreation and tourism in many
Fisheries biologists have
few tools other than limiting fishing to try to assist the few salmon
making it back.
Fishing guides are
struggling to get the word out amid coverage of the offshore fishing
closure that there will be at least some salmon fishing on rivers this
year, said Bob Rees, a fishing guide in Tillamook and president of the
Northwest Guides and Anglers Association.
"It's not a great
year to be a fishing guide, that's for sure," he said.
Many biologists and
guides suspect that a major factor in the salmon declines was strange
ocean conditions that prevailed in 2005, the year salmon that should be
returning this year first headed to the ocean.
Sacramento River fall
chinook salmon, which make up the bulk of Oregon's offshore salmon catch
each summer, were especially hard hit. But fish from other rivers were
affected, too. Other fish runs such as spring chinook seem to be in
better shape.
"The fish are
different, and they hang out in different parts of the ocean," said
Ed Bowles, the state's fish division administrator.
The year the salmon
headed to sea was warm and lacked the strong winds that usually drive
upwelling of deep ocean nutrients crucial to the marine food chain.
Rees said fall chinook
salmon have generally been the strongest stock of salmon on the north
coast because they do not spend as much time in rivers, especially in
summer, when degraded habitat leads waters to warm to unhealthy levels.
But while their time in
the ocean has been one of their advantages in the past, this time it
turned into a disadvantage.
"Because the ocean
has not been healthy, that has been the downfall of these stocks,"
he said. "It will be a pretty drastic change from the successes
we've had in recent years."
He said he has heard
broad support among anglers and guides for a reduction in bag limits
this year from two fish to one.
"We can see that we
definitely have to take a precautionary approach," he said.
Keith Braun, a state fish
biologist in Tillamook, said this is one of a couple of years in a row
of poor salmon returns. He said it's not unusual to have a single weak
year but less common to have a few in a row.
Salmon runs appear to be
in poor shape up and down the coast but worse in the south, Williams
said. The southern fish spend much of their lives in parts of the ocean
that may have been more exposed to the poor ocean conditions.
"This situation
seems to be very bad in the south and a little bit better to the
north," he said. "None of it is good by any means."
Michael Milstein:
503-294-7689; michaelmilstein@ news.oregonian.com
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Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/news/