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Fishers will likely see more restrictions this year due to declining salmon population

By KIRO 7 News Staff

FILE: A Chinook Salmon Leaps Through White Water May 17, 2001 In The Rapid River In Idaho As It Attempts To Clear A Migration Barrier Dam. (Photo By Bill Schaefer/Getty Images)

By KIRO 7 News Staff

Numerous salmon runs are expected to be lower this year compared to last season, including several key chinook and coho stocks, and will likely limit the number of fishing opportunities from Puget Sound south to the Columbia River.

Forecasts for chinook, coho, sockeye, and chum salmon – developed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and treaty Indian tribes – were released this week during a public meeting in Olympia.

Kyle Adicks, salmon policy lead for WDFW, said the low salmon returns are the result of a variety of factors, including another year of poor ocean conditions. With the population of Puget Sound wild chinook in decline, salmon managers are working to finalize conservation goals for managing chinook fisheries in 2018.

"We will definitely have to be creative in developing salmon fisheries this year," Adicks said. "We'll have a better idea of how restrictive Puget Sound salmon fisheries will be this year when NOAA provides its guidance in March."

Below are the projections that show poor returns of several salmon stocks.

Columbia River

  • Roughly 236,500 "upriver brights" are expected to return to areas of the Columbia River above Bonneville Dam. That is down more than 50 percent from the most recent 10-year average.
  • An estimated 286,200 coho are projected to return to the Columbia River this year, down nearly 100,000 fish from the 2017 forecast. About 279,300 actually returned last year to the river, where some coho stocks are listed for protection under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).

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Washington's ocean waters

  • A lower return of coho and chinook to the Columbia River, combined with a poor forecast of coho returning to the Queets River, will likely mean further restrictions to Washington's ocean salmon fishery as compared to last year, Adicks said.
  • This year's forecast of about 112,500 hatchery chinook expected to return to the Columbia River is down more than 50 percent from last year's forecast. Those hatchery chinook, known as "tules" are the backbone of the recreational ocean fishery.

Puget Sound

  • The expected return of 557,150 Puget Sound coho is down about 6 percent from the 10-year average. Very low returns to certain areas, such as the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Snohomish River, could limit salmon fishing in those regions.
  • While the 2018 forecast of 227,400 Puget Sound hatchery chinook is up 38 percent from last year, continued low returns of ESA-listed wild chinook to some rivers will limit fisheries this year.

Adicks encourages the public to give their public input of what they see as priority for the upcoming season's fisheries. You can learn how to weigh in here. 

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