January 22, 2010 in Outdoors

Oregon plagued by steelhead

Huge run of hatchery fish needs thinning

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A thick run of early winter steelhead is returning to hatcheries on six of Oregon’s North Coast rivers through the end of January.

If anglers miss them the first time, fish managers plan to trap them, truck them downstream and “recycle” the fish for another run past anglers’ hooks.

The last third of a strong early winter steelhead run is still on its way up the North Fork Nehalem, Necanicum and Klaskanine rivers, as well as Big Creek, Gnat Creek and the Nestucca River basin’s Three Rivers.

“We have a pile of steelhead showing up in some of these rivers,” said Oregon Fish and Wildlife biologist Robert Bradley, noting that the run will be over by the end of the month.

“We really don’t want these fish spawning in the wild. We want them caught.”

Two comments on this story so far. Add yours!

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  deltaelk on March 27 at 3:35 p.m.

  which is why there arent any “wild steelhead” anymore. Not Fish and Games fault, but anybody that thinks there are wild fish is living in a dream world.

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  RedCedar on May 17 at 12:14 p.m.

  In the oxymoronically dumb world of “wildlife management” this plan to “trap them, truck them downstream and “recycle” the fish for another run past anglers’ hooks.” is surely the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard of. What would it hurt if they spawned in the wild? I realize there’s something technical about each river’s run of fish being a separate “species” for Endangered Species Act purposes, but it seems a lot more practical to just call them all steelhead.

  If habitat restoration and fishing regulations have gotten us to the point where steelhead can reproduce adequately without hatcheries, then let’s be happy for the success, close the hatcheries, and spend the money somewhere where it would do more good.

  In much of the midwest, whitetail deer populations are out of control due to lack of predators and plenty of high-nutrition farm land. Following the same reasoning with the deer that they’re following here with the fish, the wildlife managers ought to trap the unshot deer and run them past the hunters again so they can get another shot at them.