About two dozen residents and sportsmen gathered at Howard’s on the River Central Building in Pateros last Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2017 to participate in a discussion of local wildlife issues – particularly steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) - with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) representatives. The balance of the two hour-plus meeting was devoted to the local steelhead fishery and its closure in the upper Columbia River system for the past two years. Chad Jackson, WDFW’s Region 2 fish program manager clarified the summer steelhead area under discussion as the upper Columbia region from Priest Rapids Dam upstream to Chief Joseph Dam, including the main stem Columbia, the Wenatchee, Entiat, Methow and Okanogan rivers and their tributaries. “It just isn’t the Methow we’re talking about,” said Jackson and recited the developments that affect the local steelhead fishery. “The upper Columbia summer steelhead were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) back in 1999,” said Jackson, “and a key component of the listing is that both the wild and the hatchery steelhead are listed, they’re not separate.”
Jackson explained the ESA permit that governs management of steelhead propagation in the upper Columbia requires that certain conditions be met before a season can be opened on the Methow River.
• A minimum forecasted abundance of 9,550 fish total including wild and hatchery fish, 1,300 of which must be wild or native fish
• Upper Columbia tributaries must also meet independent minimum escapement targets.
Jackson said that 2017 steelhead forecasts above Bonneville Dam are at a 50-year low. Of those, the predicted steelhead coming over Priest Rapids Dam – the Upper Columbia fish – is about 3,400 fish, 615 of those wild. While the run is not yet completed, Jackson estimated another 1,000 to 1,200 fish would fall far short of the number needed to meet minimum requirements. “What that means is for the second year in a row, we’re not going to have an Upper Columbia steelhead fishery,” Jackson said.
Source: Lake Chelan Mirror, Sept 29, 2017
http://www.lakechelanmirror.com/outdoors/wdfw-fields-complaints-concern…
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