Fishers off Columbia River may keep two chinook

Anglers may now keep two chinook as part of their two-salmon bag limit when fishing north of Cape Falcon.

Effective Sunday, Aug. 7, fishery managers increased the daily bag limit in the recreational ocean salmon fishery from Cape Falcon to Leadbetter Point, Wash., to allow up to two chinook salmon. The daily bag limit will now be two salmon per day, and all retained coho must have a healed adipose fin clip.

“When the regulations were set earlier this spring, anglers were limited to only one chinook per day,” said Eric Schindler, ocean salmon project leader for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “This was to ensure enough chinook were available for the full season. Catch and effort estimates through July 31 indicated that the one chinook bag limit restriction can be lifted with little risk of having to close early. Chinook catch was at 15 percent of the guideline of 7,400 chinook for the Columbia River Ocean Salmon Area.”

Anglers should look for fin clips on coho before netting them. Survival rates of native fish are much higher if they are released before they are netted.

The Columbia River Ocean Salmon Area general ocean salmon season opened June 26 and runs through the earlier of Sept. 30 or attainment of either the 33,600 adipose fin-clipped coho quota or the overall US/Canada Border to Cape Falcon chinook quota is reached.

A synopsis of the sport salmon regulations is available at www.dfw.state.or.us/MRP/salmon/docs/2011_Ocean_Sport_Season_Regulation_Summary.pdf