Bonneville pool sturgeon retention to close

Sturgeon retention in the Bonneville pool of the Columbia River Gorge will be closed beginning Feb. 8.

Washington and Oregon fishery officials adopted the closure date on Wednesday.

The sport-catch guideline in the reservoir between Bonneville and The Dalles dams has been dropped from 1,100 in recent years to 325 for 2016, said Robin Ehlke, assistant Columbia River policy coordinator for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Research in 2015 showed a significant decrease in the Bonneville pool population, she said.

Through Sunday, sportsmen had taken 80 sturgeon in Bonneville pool this year, Ehlke said. It is projected the catch total through Feb. 7 will be about 140.

That will leave about 185 sturgeon on the guideline, enough for one or two days of summer retention, she said.

Forty-five sturgeon had been caught through Sunday in The Dalles pool. That is 45 percent of the 100-sturgeon guideline for the reservoir.

Ehlke said a mid-February closure is anticipated in The Dalles pool.

Only 5 percent of the 500-sturgeon sport guideline for John Day pool had bee caught by sportsmen through Sunday.