The Idaho Fish & Game Commission voted today to open a belated catch-and-keep season for steelhead on Sunday, but to reduce the traditional daily bag limit from three fish to two, amid other restrictions. Only hatchery fish less than 28 inches long may be kept; wild steelhead still must be released. The decision came after the department adopted an emergency rule in August closing steelhead harvests statewide due to low numbers; the season normally would have started Sept. 1. But since then, steelhead numbers, while still low, have improved.

The Lewiston Tribune reports that more than 1,000 people commented on the proposed catch-and-keep season, with many of them asking the department not to open a harvest season on the Clearwater River, due to concerns over very low numbers of protected wild fish.

Idaho has required all wild steelhead to be released since the 1980s; this year’s wild steelhead returns are expected to be the lowest since 2008.

In addition to the public comments, Fish & Game polled 19,919 resident steelhead permit holders about the proposal and received 345 responses; 55 percent supported it, while 39 percent opposed it.

In a news release, Idaho Fish & Game spokesman Roger Phillips wrote, “Fish managers also pointed out the purpose of adult hatchery steelhead is to replenish hatcheries and provide harvest for sport anglers. There is no conservation benefit to wild steelhead by allowing excess hatchery steelhead to go unharvested, nor does it improve future hatchery returns.”

The department has posted more information online here.

---

---