HOOK AND FUR By Bob Brown Fishing has slowed on the Cowlitz River, but anglers are still catching spring chinook and steelhead throughout the river. Joe Hymer of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) office reported a creel check taken during May 25-31 on the lower river tallied 33 bank anglers with one spring chinook, two jacks and three summer steelhead. Seven boat anglers kept one spring chinook and two jacks. In the upper river, most of the summer run are being caught in the Blue Creek area. During the same week, 42 winter steelhead, 763 spring chinook, 217 jacks and nine summer steelhead were recovered at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery. Flows June 1 were 3,050 cubic feet per second with a visibility of about 14 feet. Elsewhere for fishing: " Swofford Pond has been fishing well for catfish and bass. Riffe Lake has been producing silvers and Mayfield trout. Mineral Lake boat anglers using lemon/lime and yellow Power Bait, with or without a worm, are catching limits of 11 to 12-inch trout. Bank and dock anglers have also been catching limits using the same baits. Through May 31 a total of 192, 809 shad had passed over Bonneville Dam. Daily counts are reaching 50,000 shad per day and are expected to be increasing. Also, a total of 220,480 adult chinook had passed over Bonneville during the same period.
The cormorant question
It is a known fact that feathered predators are very proficient and when it comes to avian predation, double-crested cormorants are extremely proficient. Bad news to small fish and especially to Columbia River juvenile salmon and steelhead, East Sand Island double-crested cormorants, gulls and Caspian ter ns consume an estimated 12 million juvenile salmon and steelhead each year. East Sand Island is located in the lower Columbia River, and is home to an estimated 15,000 cormorant breeding pairs, and is believed to be the largest cormorant breeding colony in the world. In 1986 there were 100 breeding pairs nesting on the island. To reduce predation of juvenile salmon and steelhead, the Army Corps of Engineers applied for and received a one-year depredation permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) authorizing the Corps to cull 3,489 double-crested cormorants and eliminate 5,897 nests, plus 105 Brandt's cormorants and 10 pelagic cormorants through January 31, 2016. Over Memorial Day the Corps began that process. As of May 28, the Corps contractor, Wildlife Services, had culled 109 individual cormorants and oiled 1,769 nests. Ultimately the Corps plans to cut the size of the cormorant breeding colony on East Sand Island to between 5,380 and 5,939 breeding pairs. However, through 2018, the Corps will need to reapply annually for a depredation permit. Not surprisingly, the Audubon Society of Portland, along with four other conservation and animal welfare groups, filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction to stop the action. Audubon Society's conservation director, Bob Salinger, said the Corps is "scapegoating cormorants for salmon decline, while the real problem is the Corps on-going failure to modify the manner in which it operates the Columbia River Hydropower System.GÇ¥ The lawsuit was denied May 8 in federal court. However, the case will continue into next year when both sides will present oral arguments March 7, 2016 in front of U.S. District Court Judge Michael Simon. Should the lawsuit turn out to be similar to the ongoing controversy over sea lion predation on Endangered Species Act-listed salmon and steelhead in the lower Columbia, it might be years before a final ruling on the Audubon Society's lawsuit is forth-coming. In the meantime, the Corps intends to continue with its authorization to cull thousand of double-crested cormorants from East Sand Island. Bob Brown lives in Roy and is a freelance outdoors writers. He can be contacted at robertb1285@centurylink.net
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