Commercials get 3 nights for salmon, sturgeon

Three nights of gillnetting in the Columbia River between Woodland and Beacon Rock were approved Monday by Washington and Oregon officials.

The commercial fleet will fish from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. Wednesday, Sunday and Tuesday with 8-inch minimum mesh nets.

A catch of 11,400 chinook, 1,900 coho and 200 sturgeon is anticipated, said biologist Robin Ehlke of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Additional netting is expected, but the extent will be determined next week. The Columbia River Compact will meet at 2 p.m. Sept. 25 to review catches.

Sport numbers — Through Sunday, sportsmen in the lower Columbia have kept 21,800 adult chinook, 800 coho and 5,100 steelhead from 115,000 angler trips, Ehlke said.

A catch of 29,000 fall chinook and 1,500 hatchery coho is expected for the season.

Chinook retention remains open upstream of Warrior Rock on Sauvie Island.

Anglers at Buoy 10 through Sept. 9 had caught 19,300 chinook and 7,400 coho. The catch expectation with 13,900 chinook and 9,200 coho.