Spring Fact Sheet #6 & Compact Action
May 14th, 2012
The Columbia River Compact Convened by teleconference at 2:00 p.m. Monday, May 14, 2012 to consider Treaty Tribal platform and hook-and-line fisheries in Zone 6, as well as in Zone 5 immediately below Bonneville. During the tribal presentation, Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission biologist Stuart Ellis noted some typos in Spring Fact Sheet No. 6, which have been corrected in the copy appended below for the sake of clarity.
The US v. Oregon Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) had met earlier in the day, and reached consensus on a preliminary upriver Spring Chinook run-size update of 192,000-217,000 fish. Fishery managers expressed hope that improving prospects for the spring run might deliver a somewhat larger run size than the current estimate, based on the very late timing of the 2012 run, and the high runoff this spring.
The tribal ceremonial and subsistence gillnet fishery has concluded, with a total catch of 9,000 upriver spring Chinook according to Fact Sheet No. 6. It is anticipated that at the end of the remaining month of spring fishing season, treaty Indian fishers will have caught 7,000 spring Chinook in the tribal platform and hook-and-line fisheries. The tribal recommendation was to allow commercial sales after 6:00 a.m. May 15 in platform and hook-and-line fisheries, and in Yakima tributary fisheries.
Spring Fact Sheet No. 6 is appended below as a PDF file. Both the Oregon and Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife versions of the Compact Action Notice are appended below as well. The WDFW version includes the Yakama Nation tributary fisheries, while the ODFW version does not.
