FILE - In this June 27, 2012, file photo, a Chinook salmon, second from the bottom, swims in the Columbia River with sockeye salmon at the Bonneville Dam fish-counting window near North Bonneville, Wash. Fisheries managers in Oregon and Washington announced Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2016, that salmon, steelhead and coho fishing will close on the Columbia River Saturday, Oct. 21 after fish populations were found to be smaller than expected. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
October 21, 2016 - 11:40 AM
PENDLETON, Ore. - Recreational fishing will end early on the Columbia River after fish populations were found to be smaller than expected.
The East Oregonian reports (http://bit.ly/2dthhkN ) that fisheries managers in Oregon and Washington announced Wednesday that salmon, steelhead and coho fishing will close Saturday.
Officials say only about 71 per cent of the expected number of wild chinook returned to the Snake River. Snake River fall chinook have been a threatened species since 1992 and federal law limits the harvest of fall chinook to 15 of the salmon run.
Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife fisheries manager John North says revised projections show that they have already exceeded the 15 per cent.
He says ODFW is also closing the coho and steelhead seasons to make sure no chinook are killed by catch and release.
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Information from: East Oregonian, http://www.eastoregonian.com
News from © The Associated Press, 2016