Summer chinook salmon returns to the Columbia River will fall a projected 16 percent short of expectations, state and tribal fish biologists said on Thursday.
The Columbia River Technical Advisory Committee has downgraded the forecast from its initial 88,800 to 75,000, said Roger Dick Jr., a Yakama Nation biologist. That compares with a run of 53,878 in 2009 and 10-year average of 56,953.
Summer chinook are headed for north-central Washington tributaries of the Columbia including the Wenatchee, Okanogan, and Methow rivers.
Sport fishing in the Columbia has been open for fin-clipped summer chinook since June 16. High and dirty water in the first two weeks of the season dampened the sport harvest.
Anglers made an estimated 36,954 between Bonneville Dam and the ocean from June 16 through Monday.
They kept 2,154 adult chinook and released 1,028. Sportsmen also kept 2,759 steelhead and 135 sockeye, while releasing 1,315 steelhead and 1,025 sockeye.
Joe Hymer, a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist, said angling effort in the lower Columbia is shifting from summer chinook to steelhead.
“The fishery has begun to change with the arrival of increasing numbers of upriver (upper Columbia) steelhead,” he said. “Those fish are starting to draw anglers away from the deep water toward the bank, where they’re targeting hatchery steelhead and sockeye.”
Sockeye, though, rarely bite on sport gear.
“These silver torpedoes are fairly single-minded when it comes to moving upriver so anglers should really consider them ‘bonus fish’ if they catch one,” he said.
Gillnetters in the lower Columbia caught 4,786 summer chinook in two 10-hour periods in mid-June.
On Thursday, the Columbia River Compact approved 21/2 days of tribal commercial fishing in the Bonneville, The Dalles and John Day pools from 6 a.m. Tuesday to 6 p.m. Thursday.
The four treaty tribes are expected to catch 2,500 chinook and 4,000 sockeye in the 2 1/2 days, Dick said.
The tribes expect to have about 3,400 chinook and 900 sockeye left on their allocation after next week’s netting.
Ocean salmon — Anglers off northern Oregon and southern Washington caught 1,733 coho and 176 chinook from July 1-4, the first four days of the season. The coho quota is 33,600 and the chinook guideline is 13,100.
The catch average was 1.34 salmon per rod.
Sturgeon — Washington and Oregon will meet by teleconference at 1 p.m. Tuesday to consider extending sturgeon fishing in the Columbia estuary. The catch through Sunday is expected to total 3,900. The harvest guideline is 9,600.
