Spring chinook seasons hang in balance

The fate of this year’s spring chinook fishing seasons will be shaped over the next few days, with a decision looming early next week.

Regional salmon managers will gather Monday to look at the latest data from fish counts and PIT tag detections at Bonneville Dam and are expected to issue another update on the disappointing run. Idaho Fish and Game officials expect to make a decision early next week about the future of fishing on the Clearwater River and its tributaries, as well as fisheries on the Salmon, Little Salmon and Snake rivers, said Joe DuPont, regional fisheries manager for the Idaho Department of Fish and Game at Lewiston.

“Hopefully, we will make a positive decision,” he said.

As of Thursday, fewer than 40,000 adult spring chinook had been counted passing Bonneville Dam, far behind the 10-year average of nearly 132,000. The preseason forecast called for 160,400 fish to return at least as far as the mouth of the Columbia. This week, the forecast was scaled back to 83,000 at the river’s mouth and just 75,000 at Bonneville Dam.

IDFG salmon managers had forecasted a return of about 45,000 spring chinook to Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River, but now expect only half that amount.

“This is uncharted territory; we’ve never seen anything quite like this,” said Jim Fredericks, the department’s fisheries bureau chief at Boise. “The question has been, ‘Is it late or is it low?’ And now it’s looking like it’s very late and very low.”

DuPont said there are still some indications the run may simply be stalled in the lower Columbia River because of extraordinarily high flows there. But Fredericks said late runs often are weak, and the agency must ensure enough adult chinook return to hatcheries to produce the next generation of fish.

“That’s our first priority before we try to provide harvest,” he said.

Washington fisheries managers closed fishing on the lower Snake River earlier this week. Fish Program Manager Chris Donley at Spokane said in the unlikely scenario that the run makes a late surge and meets the earlier predictions, fishing could be reopened.

“To reopen, we are going to need a pretty substantial number of fish over Bonneville – over 100,000,” he said.

DuPont said an earlier surge of fish that passed Bonneville Dam during the first week of May could arrive in Idaho this weekend and provide some opportunity for anglers. A few anglers harvested chinook from the lower Clearwater River on Friday, he said.

On Thursday, IDFG commissioners delayed a decision on whether to open a summer chinook fishing season on the South Fork of the Salmon River and the upper Salmon River.