IDFG holding meetings on salmon season

by Nancy C. Butler

Idaho Department of Fish and Game is holding public meetings to get input on what local residents think should happen during the upcoming Chinook Salmon Season.

If predictions of the number of fish returning to the Clearwater River are accurate, there will only be about 8,483 hatchery Chinook Salmon coming back this year. Of those 4,000 are needed for hatchery brood stock. The "surplus" will be split between sport fishermen and the Nez Perce Tribe fishermen. Ed Shriever, IDFG Regional Fishery Manager, explained the situation to a small audience Wednesday evening.

They base their predictions on three factors:

• Proportion of jacks returning the previous year
• Proportion of smolts
• Pit tag to adult rate

This year the predictors for the Clearwater do not agree and so they are going with the conservative number of 8,483. They expect a small surplus at Dworshak, no surplus at Kooskia and a moderate surplus for the Clearwater and Lochsa. They are also hoping that the lower than expected returns in 2004 mean that the salmon spent an extra year in the ocean and will come back this year and boost numbers.

With no surplus expected at the Kooskia hatchery, the Middle Fork of the Clearwater will be closed to salmon fishing this spring. Conservative bag limits of one fish per day, three in possession and 10 for the season are being considered for the Clearwater. IDFG is also trying to manage the season so that anglers can catch fish in the upper Clearwater and Lochsa. With the low expected returns and the way Dworshak hatchery fish get hammered both in the North Fork of the Clearwater and the main stem from MacGill Hole to the Orofino Bridge, one of the possibilities is to close one of those areas to fishing so that the season can go longer since the fishing pressure would not be as great.

The two areas are fished differently, and IDFG realizes that, Shriever said. The North Fork is primarily bank fishing, while the main stem from MacGill Hole to the bridge is primarily done with boats. One of the audience members suggested closing each stretch for a period of time, rather than one of the other being closed completely for the season.

The information and discussions in these public meeting are just an exercise in possibilities, Larry Barrett emphasized. Real time data on the returns and weekly harvest figures are very important. The two opening dates presented as possibilities are April 19 or April 24.

The salmon begin coming over Bonneville Dam in early April and then return numbers can be adjusted to more real time data. If the run is larger than expected, the season can be adjusted to match.

Shriever said once the sport anglers' share of the surplus is harvested the season will be closed, even though there may still be a lot of fish in the river. The remaining fish are the hatchery and Tribe share.

With the comments from the public meetings, as well as their data, IDFG will go to the Fish and Game commissioners and suggest a plan for the upcoming season.

For further information or to sign up for automatic email on the season go to: http://fishandgame.id.gov.