Possibly today or later this week, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife plans to discuss its current closure of the Chehalis River and other basin waterways to coho salmon fishing.
Steve Thiesfeld, Region 6 program manager, said the department had hoped to have a decision about whether to open the fishery up for sportfishers on Monday, but it has been delayed.
“We will do what we can to respond and get the fisheries open as quickly as we can. But folks, I think, need to recognize we’re not doing our coho any favors when we open those fisheries, that additional wild coho are going to die when we open them,” Theisfeld said.
The Chronicle spoke with multiple area guides last week who are calling for the fishery to be reopened so they can salvage what remains of the silver season on the Chehalis.
While the waters have been closed to sportfishers due to low coho numbers, the Quinault Indian Nation and the Chehalis Tribe have been fishing.
Thiesfeld said the Quinaults, who began gillnet fishing for steelhead on Sunday, caught six coho in their nets.
The department is also trying to get information on coho catches from the Chehalis Tribe.
He said Fish and Wildlife isn’t “necessarily supportive” of the tribes fishing when the department is seeing a conservation issue for coho.
While Fish and Wildlife’s forecast released earlier this year predicted a good year for coho, according to spawning escapement numbers, the wild coho situation is “dire,” Theisfeld said. The department is estimating a rough, preliminary coho spawning prediction between 20,000 and 32,000.
The goal is 28,500.
“So what most of the projections are telling 08 is we’re going to be well below the escapement level that we want,” Theisfeld said.
Select small areas near hatcheries have been opened to allow anglers access to hatchery fish.
The guides told The Chronicle they would be open to catch and release of wild coho with keeping of hatchery fish on the Chehalis River.
However, even with catch and release of wild coho, Theisfeld said some of those fish will die, contributing to the issue.
“So how much further below escapement do we want to fish is the question,” he said. “And the tribes are out in front of us deciding what they can accept, and we have to decide what we can accept.”
The number of coho has declined along the state’s entire coast, affecting the Puget Sound and the Columbia River, Theisfeld said.
“If folks are thinking this is just a Chehalis Basin issue, it’s not, and there have been fishing regulation adjustments in many of the systems in order to compensate the low coho runs,” he said.
He said the department understands both guides and other sportfishers want to get on the water; however, that will cause additional mortalities on wild coho.
“Perhaps of even greater concern is if this is an indicator of what’s to come for the next year or two,” he said. “We could be in the same situation next year and have very few coho as well as very few chinook.”
