Pikeminnow Bounty Works

Bounty-hunting anglers appear to have a prosperous future on the Snake and Columbia rivers.

The bounty on pikeminnows, formerly known as northern squawfish, has reduced the number of young salmon eaten by the predatory species in the Columbia system, according to a review of procedures for the Northern Pikeminnow Reward Program.

However, the program funded since 1990 by the Bonneville Power Administration needs to whittle down the overhead in the $3 million a year program, the independent study concluded.

Dr. David Hankin, a Humboldt State University biologist, and Dr. Jack Richards, a Portland State University economist, co-authored a review at the request of the Northwest Power Planning Council.

The program targets pikeminnows by offering cash rewards to sport fishermen and hires Native Americans to fish at dams and gillnets. The program was founded after research indicated that reservoirs behind dams on the rivers have made the salmon easier prey for the native pikeminnow.

Researchers had found that as many as 16 million of the 200 million salmon and steelhead smolts migrating down the Columbia and Snake River were consumed annually by the predatory pikeminnow. Up to 13 million young salmonids were taken below The Dalles Dam.

The program has paid up to $5 for each mature fish turned in under the program. Culling 10-20 percent of the pikeminnows older than 5 each year could reduce their impact on salmon by up to 50 percent, the research indicated.

In order to maintain the reductions in pikeminnow predation, the program must be carried out, and funded, on a continuing basis, the recent review concluded.

“To be blunt, we’re talking about forever and ever,” Hankin said.

The program began in 1990 on a trial basis with total costs ranging from a high of $6.85 million in 1992 to $3.3 million in 1999.

The pikeminnow catch has been as high as 215,000 in 1992 and 214,000 in 1995, when anglers caught 15.5 percent of the estimated pikeminnow population.

Catch numbers have dwindled in recent years to 120,000 last year as pikeminnow population was reduced. The program must continue to keep anglers interested.

The reviewers suggested offering $2.50 per fish for anglers who catch pikeminnows just below the current size limit of 11 inches. The $5 reward would continue to be paid for fish longer than that mark.

The review pointed out that in 1998, 27,000 fish in the 8-3/4 to 11-inch range were caught but 17,000 were released back into the river. Many of those released fish likely grew into their salmon-eating prime.

“It is valuable to begin removal of pikeminnow prior to the age at which they begin feeding on juvenile salmonids,” the report said.

“To encourage people to kill fish you’ve got to pay them. Otherwise they feel guilty,” Hankin said.

The review said the three-tier program, which offers higher awards to anglers who catch more pikeminnows, gives anglers an incentive to be efficient.

The first 100 pikeminnows an angler turns in are worth $3 apiece. The fee is increased to $4 for the next 300 fish. The $5 reward is paid for each fish over 400.

Program managers should look for ways to reduce the $85,000 spent in the promotion of the program and use the savings to increase the sport reward payment, the reviewers said.

The involvement of six state and federal agencies and four tribes also could be consolidated to save money, the review found.

The Washington Fish and Wildlife Department spent $1.1 million, or 31 percent of the program’s budget, in 1999.

The amount earmarked for sport rewards is $1 million, although expenditures each year depend on how many fish are caught.

The report also suggests scrutiny of the tribal dam and site-specific fisheries, which have had “essentially negligible biological impacts over the past several years.”

While the 1999 budget earmarked $193,000 (5.8 percent of the overall budget) for dam angling and $264,700 (8 percent) for site-specific fisheries, they accounted for only 5 percent of the total catch.

The cost per fish caught was nearly five times the comparable costs for the sport-reward program.

However, the effectiveness of fishing at the dams could be improved with different timing and in years of lower flows.

The researchers pointed out that maintaining these programs may be important simply to fund the tribal fishery programs.

This sidebar appeared with the story:

CONTACT

Rewards

For information on the Northern Pikeminnow Reward Program, including locations of check stations on the Snake and Columbia Rivers, call (800) 858-9015.