HOOK AND FUR By Bob Brown-á Ever since the Columbia River smelt (eulachon) were listed as threatened in 2010 and all eulachon-directed fisheries were closed in the Columbia and its tributaries in January 2011, the question has been will eulachon numbers ever rebound to the point where they can be de-listed as threatened, and will there be a smelt fishery in the Columbia in 2015? Presently, both answers are unknown because there are too many variables and fish managers are reluctant to forecast smelt abundance this early in the game. Traditionally, the Columbia River smelt run starts in January through March. What is known: Eulachon numbers fluctuate year- to-year, and from California to southeastern Alaska, nearly all spawning runs have declined, especially since the mid-1990s. From 1938 to 1992, the median commercial catch of smelt in the Columbia River was approximately 2 million pounds, but from 1993 to 2006, the median catch declined to approximately 43,000 pounds. That represents a nearly 98 percent reduction in catch from the prior period. Smelt returns in the Fraser River and other British Columbia rivers also suffered similar declines in the mid-1990s. The long finger of blame for the decline of eulachon has been pointed in many directions and particularly towards the Columbia River basin where habitat loss and degradation has affected spawning. Hydroelectric dams have blocked access to historical eulachon spawning grounds and affected the quality of spawning substrates and through flow management altered delivery of course and fine sediments. According to a National Marine Fishery Service (NMFS) assessment of critical habitat loss (October 2011), release of fine sediments from behind a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sediment retention structure on the Toutle River has had a negative effect on Cowlitz River eulachon returns. Although this has been suspected of harming eulachon in this river system, the exact cause of the effect is undetermined. Also, global climate change may be threatening eulachon spawning success particularly in the southern portion of their range. According to NMFS officials, eulachon harvest has been curtailed significantly in response to population declines; however, existing regulatory mechanisms may be inadequate to recover eulachon stocks. It should be noted there was no mention of over fishing. James A. Tober, professor of economics at Marlboro College and author, said in his book "Who Owns the WildlifeGÇ¥ that no wild species of bird, mammal, reptile or fish can withstand exploitation for commercial purposes. Have Columbia River smelt been over-exploited? Some fishermen believe they have. Earlier this year, Oregon and Washington fish managers conducted minor eulachon research fisheries to gather adult catch GÇôperGÇôunit-effort (CPUE) data for monitoring the status of the population. The provided collected biological data allowed for better understanding and calibration of the spawning stock biomass (SSB) estimation calculations and helped state agencies provide NMFS with improved data for a viability assessment as part of a eulachon recovery plan. Joe Hymer, supervisory fish biologist Pacific States Marine Fishery, said the mmarine environment showed favorable conditions during 2011-2013, with conditions deteriorating during 2014. However, positive indicators outnumber negative indicators: " Upwelling has been weak, but food sources seem to be good. " Bycatch of eulachon in the ocean shrimp trawl fisheries has been relatively high in the past couple of years despite improvements made to excluder devices. " Age composition may be shifting toward younger age classes which are less impacted by negative indicators, so if this change in composition is true, the prospects for 2015 improve. " The mixed forecast leads the Joint staff to conclude the2015 run is likely to be similar to the good runs during the past few years, but not as strong as 2014. Earlier this year, six-hour recreational eulachon fisheries were conducted in the Cowlitz and Sandy rivers, with daily limits of 10 pounds per person. Catch estimates from the recreational fisheries were 197,900 pounds from the Cowlitz and 6,000 pounds from the Sandy. Also, two seven-hour commercial fisheries were conducted in the mainstem Columbia, which resulted in a total catch of 19,000 pounds. On average, there are 10 or 11 adult eulachon to a pound. All fisheries are currently closed. Oregon and Washington have continued discussions with NMFS about re-establishing eulachon fisheries to gather adult biological samples needed to measure spawning stock biomass (SSB) estimation models and to gather catch and effort data useful toward monitoring the status of the population.
Other fishing news
" Fishing has been pretty good in the Cowlitz. Catches of winter steelhead and coho have been a 50/50 split, with the catches spread throughout the river. The salmon hatchery has been best for coho, with the trout hatchery best for steelhead. During Dec. 15- 21, Tacoma Power recovered1,967 coho and 13 jacks, one summer steelhead, 186 winter steelhead and six cutthroat trout at the Cowlitz Salmon Hatchery. Also released into the Tilton River were 256 coho, three jacks and two cutthroat during the same week. " Puget Sound marine areas currently open to recreational winter crabbing will close at 5 p.m. on Dec. 31, after which all sport crabbers licensed to fish for crab in Puget Sound will have until Feb. 1 to report-á their winter catch. All Puget Sound marine areas will be closed to recreational crabbing until summer 2015. Happy New Year to all! -á Bob Brown, who lives in Roy, is a freelance outdoors writer. He can be reached at robertb1285@fairpoint.net
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