Fishing season ends early on Columbia River

PENDLETON, Ore. – Recreational fishing will end early on the Columbia River after fish populations were found to be smaller than expected.

The East Oregonian reportsed that fisheries managers in Oregon and Washington announced Wednesday that salmon, steelhead and coho fishing will close Saturday.

Officials say only about 71 percent of the expected number of wild chinook returned to the Snake River. Snake River fall chinook have been a threatened species since 1992, and federal law limits the harvest of fall chinook to 15 of the salmon run.

Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife fisheries manager John North said revised projections show that they have already exceeded the 15 percent.

He said ODFW is also closing the coho and steelhead seasons to make sure no chinook are killed by catch and release.