Northern pike control in Columbia likely to be stepped up

UPDATE 11-19-15:   The northern pike found in the John Day Pool and mentioned in the NPCC agenda apparently was a northern pikeminnow improperly identified on paper, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife officials say.  The Kettle Falls area remains the farthest downstream in the Columbia that northern pike have officially been confirmed, they say.

FISHING — State and tribal fish managers are in Portland today requesting continued funding from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council for controlling non-native northern pike that are seeping into the Columbia River.

A northern pike was captured in the John Day pool recently, increasing the urgency the fisheries managers generated last year as pike began showing up in spawning numbers in the upper reaches of Lake Roosevelt.

One of the first confirmed pike holding up in Lake Roosevelt was caught by an angler in 2011 . The way the catch increased caught fish managers’ attention this year .

A netting program to assess the pike distribution in Roosevelt was launched this year .

The co-managers of Lake Roosevelt, including the Spokane and Colville tribes and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, are concerned about the continued expansion of the voracious predator in Lake Roosevelt and the resulting in impacts to native fish populations.

“In addition, pike pose an enormous threat to salmon and steelhead recovery efforts below Chief Joseph Dam on the Columbia River,” the co-managers say in their presentation summary.

The Council already has declared actions to preserve Fish and Wildlife Program effectiveness by aggressively addressing non-native and invasive species as its third highest emerging priority.

Background: See the northern pike presentation by the Kalispel Tribe, Spokane Tribe, Colville Tribe and WDFW from the June 9, 2015 Council Meeting in Coeur d’ Alene, ID.

Background: See a summary of the northern pike presentation by the Kalispel Tribe, Spokane Tribe, Colville Tribe and WDFW from the June 9, 2015, Council Meeting in Coeur d’ Alene.