Anglers fish the Cowlitz River from the rocks beneath the Barrier Dam as a thunderstorm rolls past them to the east on Thursday, May 4, 2017, in Salkum.
Fall Chinook salmon fisheries on the Cowlitz, Green and North Fork Toutle rivers came to a premature end Monday.
Just before the close of the work day on Friday, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced an emergency closure to the popular king fishery beginning Monday. Anglers are now required to release all wild or hatchery Chinook on the trio of rivers.
The abrupt regulation change is being blamed on a poor return of fall Chinook that has hatchery managers concerned they will not be able to collect enough mature fish to facilitate hatchery operations during the coming year.
“This was a tough decision for fishery managers, but we can’t ignore the lagging Chinook returns,” said Dan Rawding, acting WDFW regional fish manager, in a press release. “We have to think about producing fish for next year too.”
A pre-season forecast released by the WDFW predicted a return of about 3,900 hatchery fall Chinook to the Barrier Dam on the Cowlitz River in between Toledo and Salkum. Hatchery managers hoped to gather 1,900 of those returning fish for hatchery broodstock; however, only about 700 Chinook have made it to the Barrier Dam so far. Rawding noted that the broodstock goal has now been lowered by 500 fish to 1,400.
The Green River was supposed to see a run of roughly 1,000 hatchery kings this fall, but as of Friday only 400 of the stately fish had been collected. The broodstock goal at the Green River hatchery, which produces Chinook salmon for both the Green and North Fork Toutle rivers, is 800 fish.
Anglers on the Cowlitz River will still be allowed to target coho/silver salmon, summer steelhead and sea-run cutthroat trout while Chinook are off the table. The Kalama River and Washougal rivers, another pair of regional tributaries to the Columbia River, have also been experiencing depressed king salmon returns but they will remain open to king fishing. Hatchery managers expect to reach broodstock goals on both rivers.
The WDFW plan to continue monitoring salmon returns on area rivers, and the agency left open the possibility of reopening Chinook salmon fisheries later this fall if the return numbers improve.
Additional information about fishing regulation changes can be found online at https://fortress.wa.gov/dfw/erules/efishrules/.
