OLYMPIA — Washington’s Fish and Wildlife Commission will discuss sport and commercial sturgeon harvest reductions in the lower Columbia River when the panel meets Jan. 21 by teleconference.
The commission was scheduled on Saturday to give the Department of Fish and Wildlife guidance on how much of a cut to seek for 2011-13 when negotiating future seasons with Oregon.
Darlene Bartlett, commission administrative assistant, said only four commission members were at Saturday’s meeting in Olympia, so the matter was postponed until Jan. 21.
The commission has nine citizen members, but the terms of Ken Chew of Seattle and George Orr of Spokane have expired and both have opted to leave the panel rather than participate until a replacement is named.
Commission members Miranda Wecker, Chuck Perry and Brad Smith were absent, leaving just four members.
Washington and Oregon biologists are suggesting a 30 percent reduction, which would make the combined harvest guideline 17,000, down from 24,000 in 2010.
A 40 percent cut was implemented in 2010. Another reduction, when adopted, will be the fourth since 1997, when the catch guideline was 67,300.
Research by the two states indicates the population of legal-size (38 to 54 inches fork length) sturgeon will decline slightly in 2011, increase some in 2012 through 2014, then drop again beginning about 2015.
The population of legal-size sturgeon was estimated to be 87,000 in 2009, 85,000 this year and to drop to 77,000 in 2011. The catch of sublegal sturgeon has been on the decline since 2005 and sea lion predation has increased annually since 2006.
A 17,000 harvest for 2011 would allocate 3,400 sturgeon to the commercial fishery and 13,600 to the sport fishery. The sport share would be additionally divided with 6,800 going to the estuary, 3,425 to the Columbia between Wauna and Bonneville Dam and 2,550 in the lower Willamette River.
