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Columbia River Halibut Sport Fishery To Close May 29

NEWPORT, Ore. -(FishNLand.com)– The Pacific halibut sport fishery off the Columbia River will close effective Friday, May 29, 2009 at 11:59 p.m., fishery managers announced today.

The spring fishery from Leadbetter Point in Washington to Cape Falcon in Oregon opened on May 1 and was scheduled to be open through July 20 or the harvest of 11,014 pounds of Pacific halibut, whichever came first.

Preliminary estimates and projections indicating the quoted will be reached by May 29 prompted the decision by NOAA Fisheries to close the sport fishery. Anglers will not be able to land halibut into Columbia River ports until the fishery reopens Aug. 7.

The summer fishery will be open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Sept. 27, or until a combined spring and summer harvest quota of 15,735 pounds is reached.

Opportunities to fish for Pacific halibut remain open in other areas of Oregon:

Off central Oregon between Cape Falcon (near Manzanita) and Humbug Mountain (near Port Orford), anglers may fish for halibut inside the 40-fathom line seven days a week through Oct. 31 or attainment of the harvest quota for that fishery. The all-depth halibut fishery off central Oregon is open May 21-23, May 28-30, and June 4-6. Additional days may open in June and July if the quota has not been met. A second season is scheduled to begin in August. The high-relief area of Stonewall Bank, west of Newport, is closed to all halibut fishing.

The area south of Humbug Mountain is open in all-depths for Pacific halibut through Oct. 31, seven days a week.

Days on which Pacific halibut fishing is open will be announced on the NOAA Fisheries hotline (1-800-662-9825) and posted on the ODFW Marine Resources Program Web site.

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Hazardous Columbia River Access Closed Indefinitely
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has closed one of its Columbia River access sites in the northcentral region because it is unsafe for launching trailered boats.

Ephrata, WA -(FishNLand.com)- The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) has closed one of its Columbia River access sites in the northcentral region because it is unsafe for launching trailered boats.

The Sunland Estates water access site, about eight miles west of George on the Grant County side of the Columbia River, is closed indefinitely while launch repair or replacement is assessed and project funding is sought.

The concrete-plank boat launch is currently in such poor condition that attempts to launch trailered boats are hazardous, said Terrie Preston, WDFW northcentral region lands agent based in Ephrata. The department plans to conduct a work assessment and seek the funding and federal permits needed to restore the launch, she said.

Preston noted several alternative Columbia River access sites in the area:

WDFW’s Old Vantage Highway access site east of Vantage on the Grant County side of the river.
Washington State Parks Wanapum Recreation Area southwest of Vantage on the Kittitas County side of the river.
Crescent Bar Recreation Area southwest of Quincy on the Grant County side of the river.
WDFW’s Buckshot access site southwest of Mattawa on the Grant County side of the river.
WDFW’s Vernita access site east of Priest Rapids Dam on the Grant County side of the river.

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Columbia River Tribes Protest Volume Of Fishing
Representatives of Columbia River tribes say Oregon and Washington have allowed too much nontribal fishing of upper Columbia spring chinook at the probable expense of tribes depending on what may be an unexpectedly low run.

-(FishNLand.com)- Representatives of Columbia River tribes say Oregon and Washington have allowed too much nontribal fishing of upper Columbia spring chinook at the probable expense of tribes depending on what may be an unexpectedly low run.

The Columbia River Intertribal Fish Commission, representing the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Warm Springs and Yakama tribes, sent a letter to the states last week.

So far, tribal fishermen above Bonneville Dam have caught about 1,000 spring chinook, while nontribal fisheries have caught about 19,000, according to the letter from N. Kathryn Brigham, the group’s chairwoman. The numbers are supposed to be about equal, The Oregonian reported.

Spring chinook, the river’s most valuable fish pound for pound, are important to the tribes’ diet and commercial harvest as well as to sport fishermen and nontribal commercial fishermen.

And the wild runs of spring chinook that originate in the upper Columbia and Snake rivers are among the more endangered.

If the states and the tribes can’t agree on changes under the federal court case that covers fishing allocations, Brigham said, the tribes will go to court.

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