[env-trinity] CBB: 2015 Columbia River Salmon Runs expected to top 2 million fish

[Sari Sommarstrom]

Columbia Basin Bulletin

 <http://www.cbbulletin.com/433507.aspp> Print this Story Print this Story
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/Email_EmailContent.aspx?id=433507> Email this
Story Email this Story 


Fish Managers Expect 2015 Columbia River Salmon Runs To Top 2 Million Fish;
Run By Run Numbers 
Posted on Friday, March 27, 2015 (PST) 


Columbia River salmon runs should top 2 million fish again in 2015,
continuing a trend of record or near-record runs over last decade compared
to runs in the 1990s, fish managers reported to the Northwest Power and
Conservation Council this month.

 

"The 2015 run and the runs of recent years really show a big bounceback
since the 1990s," Bill Tweit of the Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife, told the Council at its March meeting. "We still are in a period
of higher than average salmon productivity in the Columbia River. We know it
can't last forever, but it's more fun than managing scarcity."

 

Run by run, here is an overview:

 

-- Upriver spring chinook (includes Snake River stocks): 2014 was a good
year (242,577 fish). Another strong run is expected in 2015 (232,500 fish).

 

-- Upper Columbia summer chinook: The run continues to be strong (78,304 in
2014, 73,000 predicted in 2015), and it will be boosted in future years by
increased production at the Colville Tribes' Chief Joseph Hatchery.

 

-- Upper Columbia sockeye: Record-breaking runs (645,140 in 2014; 394,000
predicted in 2015) have become almost commonplace for this species. The
largest component of the run spawns in British Columbia. The Wenatchee River
portion of the run (118,480) met its production goal in 2014 --enough for a
fishery.

 

-- Mid-Columbia fall chinook: "Another very, very large run" is expected in
2015, Tweit said. The 2014 run totaled 981,100 fish; the 2015 prediction is
1,319,500).

 

-- Coho upstream of Bonneville Dam: "This run is beginning to show a lot of
strength," despite high variation from year to year, which is typical of
coho. The upriver run in 2014 (255,118 fish) was larger than anticipated.

 

-- Snake River fall chinook: Another strong run is forecast for 2015 (10,250
fish), said Paul Klein, assistant chief of fisheries for the Idaho
Department of Fish and Game. He said there were "a tremendous number of
redds counted last year."

 

-- Snake River sockeye: Klein said 2,786 fish, a record number for the
endangered species, were counted at Lower Granite Dam in 2014, and the
forecast for 2015 is 1,800.

 

-- Snake River steelhead: The 2014 run was good, and the 2015 run should be
good, too -- "not as high as we enjoyed over the last decade, but not
horrible, either," he said.

 

-- Snake River spring/summer chinook: "It's not a bad year coming up,
compared to the last 15 years," Klein said.

 

-- Snake River coho: Klein said another strong year is anticipated thanks to
the ongoing work of the Nez Perce Tribe to rebuild the run. The 2014 run
(18,651 fish) was "off the scale," he said, demonstrating again how variable
coho run sizes can be from the same number of hatchery smolts released every
year.

 

Also see: 

 

-- CBB, Feb. 20, 2015, "More Big Numbers Expected For 2015 Fall Chinook
Return To Columbia; Third Highest Since 1938"
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/433202.aspx>
http://www.cbbulletin.com/433202.aspx

 

-- CBB, Jan. 30, 2015, "With Strong Return Expected, Spring Chinook Season
Set; Tribes, Idaho Urge Caution On Early Fishing"
<http://www.cbbulletin.com/433014.aspx>
http://www.cbbulletin.com/433014.aspx

 

 <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a73074e66d2b0b0>
Bookmark and Share

	

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20150327/b1efa8b2/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 8928 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20150327/b1efa8b2/attachment.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image002.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 63 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20150327/b1efa8b2/attachment-0001.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image003.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 64 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20150327/b1efa8b2/attachment-0002.gif>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image004.gif
Type: image/gif
Size: 605 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20150327/b1efa8b2/attachment-0003.gif>