Washington and Oregon officials today extended fall chinook salmon fishing season at Buoy 10 near the mouth of the Columbia River for nine additional days as catches in August were only half of expectations.
Chinook retention had been scheduled to close beginning Tuesday between red Buoy No. 10 at the river mouth and the Rocky Point-Tongue Point line, 16 miles upstream.
The Washington and Oregon departments of Fish and Wildlife approved extending chinook retention through Sept. 14.
Biologist John North of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife told a joint state hearing today that about 2,500 chinook are expected to be caught during the extension.
That will bring the season total to 24,000 fall chinook, compared to a pre-season expectation of 48,500 chinook.
Through Monday, the kept coho catch was 3,922 coho compared to an allocation of almost 22,000 hatchery coho, he said.
There had been almost 75,000 angler trips through Monday at Buoy 10.
“Effort has been high, but catch rates continue to be less than what was modeled preseason,’’ North said.
“We need to keep as many anglers as we can on the water down here at the coast,’’ said Butch Smith of the Ilwaco Charter Association.
“I don’t have any heartburn if Buoy 10 gets more time,’’ said Jim Wells of Astoria, a member of the bistate Columbia River Commercial Fishery Advisory Group.
No gillnetting — The states on Wednesday rejected four hours of gillnetting Thursday night between Woodland and Beacon Rock.
State biologists proposed netting from 10 p.m. Thursday to 2 a.m. Friday. A catch of 6,000 to 8,000 chinook was projected.
