Gillnetters to fish Thursday night in lower Columbia

Gillnetting for spring chinook salmon will be open from 3 p.m. Thursday through 5 a.m. Friday in the Columbia River downstream of Kelley Point.

State and tribal biologists on Wednesday upgraded their forecast for upper Columbia spring chinook from 198,400 to 210,000. The new forecast leaves 3,600 upper Columbia chinook available for the netters under various state, federal and tribal ageements, said John North of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The net fleet will use eight-inch mesh nets. Using smaller nets likely would increase the handle of steelhead and shad, North said.

Test netting on Monday in the Wahkiakum and Cowlitz county stretch of the Columbia averaged 2.4 chinook, but 39 shad per drift.

Because the eight-inch-mesh nets kill 40 percent of the wild spring chinook which must be released, the commercial catch of upper Columbia fish is limited to 1,750 chinook, North said.

A hearing is scheduled at 1 p.m. Friday to discuss when sport fishing will be reopened. Angling is not expected to resume until next week.