First Fish Stocked From Newly Renovated Hatchery in Wisconsin
September 26, 2008
WILD ROSE – The first fish raised in the new $15.9 million coldwater facilities at Wild Rose State Fish Hatchery are being stocked in Lake Michigan waters this week and next, marking an important milestone for the century-old fish hatchery and Wisconsin’s stocking program.
The new facilities were dedicated last month 
in a ceremony with Gov. Jim Doyle and DNR Secretary Matt Frank, and early this morning, state stocking trucks rolled out of Wild Rose with 28,000 coho salmon and 13,000 Seeforellen Brown trout bound for Algoma.
All told, 150,000 coho salmon and 60,000 Seeforellen trout will be stocked in Lake Michigan harbors by the end of the month. The fish are “large fingerlings” about 5-inches long, and should grow big enough over the next year to start being caught by anglers next summer.
“We’ve very excited that after all the years of hard work and effort, the first fish are being stocked from the new coldwater facilities at Wild Rose,” says Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Director Mike Staggs. “It’s a great day for anglers, particularly those who enjoy fishing Lake Michigan.”
The new facilities at Wild Rose are critical for continued great fishing for Lake Michigan trout and salmon. These fisheries depend on stocking, and virtually all of the 2 ¼ million trout and salmon produced at Wild Rose in a given year are destined for the “big pond.”
“So far, the hatchery is doing what it’s supposed to do,” says Hatchery Supervisor Steve Fajfer. “These fish look just tremendously healthy and in good shape, which should transmit to better survival when stocked, which will mean more fish being available to anglers a year from now.”
The new coldwater facilities replaced aging, century-old raceways and a faltering water supply that were making it difficult for fisheries crews to raise healthy fish. The fish have adjusted so well to the new facility and have grown so fast that hatchery staff had to adjust the amount of feed they were receiving so the fish didn’t outgrow the new facilities, Fajfer says.
New regulations and precautions in effect to prevent the fish disease VHS from entering the hatchery system mean a tightly orchestrated schedule of getting fish out for stocking before new eggs can be brought on site for rearing, putting space at a premium.
Those regulations also mean that for the first time in about three decades, Wild Rose has been raising Coho Salmon. All eggs collected from fish in the Lake Michigan basin, where VHS, or viral hemorrhagic septicemia has been found, are hatched and then raised at state facilities within the same basin.
The new coldwater facilities represent the first phase of renovation at Wild Rose, which also built a new visitors center. Work is underway on the second phase of the renovation, building new coolwater facilities to raise walleye, lake sturgeon, spotted musky and northern pike.
Lake Michigan is the state’s top fishing draw, accounting for 6 percent of angler trips, according to a 2006-7 DNR angler survey. In that same year, 235,000 anglers fished a total of 3.7 million days on Wisconsin’s Great Lakes waters, generated a $418 million economic impact, supported 5,011 jobs and generated $28 million in state and local tax revenues, according to the American Sportfishing Association’s 2008 report, “Sportfishing in America,” available on the association Web site [www.asafishing.org] (exit DNR; pdf).
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Steve Fajfer (920) 622-3527 ext 201; Mike Staggs (608) 267-0796; Al Kaas (608) 267-7865
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Fishery Managers Reopen Columbia River Chinook Season in Oregon & Washington
September 22, 2008
CLACKAMAS, Ore. – Better than expected returns of Columbia River chinook salmon prompted fishery managers from Oregon and Washington to reopen the season below Bonneville dam starting Saturday.
Effective Saturday, Sept. 20 until Dec. 31, 2008 or further notice, anglers will be permitted to keep chinook salmon caught between the Warrior Rock-Bachelor Island line above the mouth of the Lewis River upstream to Bonneville dam. The Columbia remains closed to retention of chinook salmon below Warrior Rock-Bachelor line out of concern for Lewis River wild chinook, which are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Fishery managers from the Oregon and Washington departments of fish and wildlife made the decision to reopen the season at a joint state hearing Thursday after reviewing reports from biologists that upgraded the upriver bright run size to 212,500 chinook from the preseason estimate of 164,400 chinook.
Prior to the run upgrade, the fall chinook salmon fishing season below Bonneville had closed on Sept. 16.
“We’re pleased to be able to offer the additional opportunity in a year when we didn’t think we would have it available to us,” said Steve Williams, assistant administrator for the Fish Division of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. “It wasn’t something that we anticipated going into the season. We thought we were going to be tighter than this. There was no plan to get us through to the end of the year, and here we are offering a one-fish bag limit below Bonneville until the end of the year. That’s a really good thing.”
Under the rules adopted at Thursday’s hearing, anglers may keep up to two adult salmon and/or steelhead in combination, but only one of those fish may be a chinook. Retained chinook do not have to be fin-clipped. However, any coho salmon or steelhead must be adipose-clipped in order to be retained, as prescribed under permanent fishing regulations. Adiplose-clipped coho and steelhead may also be kept in the Columbia River below its confluence with the Lewis.
Anglers should be prepared for in-season changes and check for the latest information, which is available on the ODFW website at http://www.dfw.state.or.us/resources/fishing/reg_changes/columbia.asp, or through the ODFW telephone hotline at 1-503-947-6000. In-season fishery modifications by the states of Oregon and Washington are also posted at http://www.dfw.state.or.us/fish/OSCRP/CRM/action_notes.asp.
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Salmon Fishing Opportunities Increase Along the Washington Coast Beginning Aug. 26
August 26, 2008
OLYMPIA – Anglers will be able to fish for salmon seven days a week along most of the Washington coast beginning Tuesday, Aug. 26, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced today.
The new rules will increase fishing opportunities at Westport (Marine Area 2), La Push (Marine Area 3) and the portion of Neah Bay (Marine Area 4) that lies east of the Bonilla-Tatoosh line. Ocean waters west of that line in Marine Area 4 will be closed to all salmon fishing beginning Aug. 26, said Doug Milward, WDFW ocean salmon manager.
“Angler participation has been down along the coast likely due to higher gas prices,” Milward said. “For that reason, we can provide anglers who are fishing at these three ports with additional opportunities without exceeding recreational harvest quotas.”
Fishing had been restricted to five days a week since the season opened.
Anglers fishing at Westport and La Push may retain two chinook salmon as part of their daily limit, but those fishing in Neah Bay may retain only hatchery coho salmon, Milward said. All wild coho must be released in all three areas.
Salmon fishing is scheduled to continue through Sept. 13 if sufficient numbers remain in the quota, Milward said.
Although salmon fishing in Ilwaco (Marine Area 1) closed Aug. 17, fishing continues for hatchery coho at Buoy 10 just south of Ilwaco, Milward said.
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Chinook Fishing in Marine Areas 9 and 10 Will Close at End of the Day Friday
August 15, 2008
OLYMPIA – The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) is reminding anglers that the recreational fisheries in marine areas 9 (Admiralty Inlet) and 10 (Seattle/Bremerton) will close to the retention of chinook salmon at the end of the day Friday, Aug. 15.
The closure of the mark-selective fisheries for hatchery chinook does not affect recreational fisheries for hatchery coho salmon and other species in marine areas 9 and 10.
“Fishing was slow compared to last year, but it was still a great opportunity for anglers to catch and keep hatchery salmon near a major metropolitan area,” said Steve Thiesfeld, Puget Sound recreational salmon manager for WDFW.
As of Aug. 12, anglers had harvested an estimated 4,767 fish in the marine areas 9 and 10.
Earlier this year, WDFW scheduled the chinook selective fisheries in those two areas to run through Aug. 15, or until a combined quota of 7,000 hatchery chinook salmon is reached. The quota for the two areas reflects constraints established under the Endangered Species Act.
Thiesfeld reminds anglers fishing in marine areas 9 and 10 that regulations vary for inner Elliott Bay, Sinclair Inlet and public fishing piers in those two areas. More information on fishing regulations is available on WDFW’s website http://wdfw.wa.gov/fish/regs/fishregs.htm.
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Lower Kenai River Coho Sampling Project
August 5, 2008
The Division of Sport Fish is sampling coho salmon caught in the Lower Kenai River sport fishery. From August 1 through September 30 anglers fishing the Lower Kenai River below the Soldotna Bridge may be asked by Fish and Game staff for permission to sample their coho salmon catches.
A sample requires the angler’s permission for staff to examine coho salmon for the presence of an adipose fin and to pass a hand-held device over the head of the fish to determine the presence of a coded wire tag. Some coho salmon will be sampled for scales and genetic tissue. The information will be used to improve management of Kenai River coho salmon.
The Department would appreciate if anglers will allow the coho salmon they have harvested to be sampled.
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Ocean Salmon Fishery Opens June 1 With a Focus on Chinook, Conservation
May 28, 2008
OLYMPIA – The sport fishery for salmon begins June 1 off the southern coast of Washington, where the first anglers of the season will cast off from Westport and Ilwaco a full month earlier than usual.
On June 3, salmon fishing begins on the north coast out of LaPush and Neah Bay.
This year’s early start will give ocean anglers an opportunity to catch hatchery chinook salmon before the bulk of the coho run arrives off the Washington coast, said Doug Milward, ocean salmon manager for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
That is a key conservation strategy in a year when fishery managers are predicting low returns of coho salmon throughout the West Coast, Milward said. In Washington, this year’s catch quota for coho will be the lowest in a decade.
But unlike California, where the collapse of the Sacramento River chinook run prompted a complete closure of that state’s ocean fishery, hatchery chinook are returning to the Columbia River in sufficient numbers to support a fishery off the Washington coast, he said.
In all, up to 20,000 chinook salmon – up from 16,500 last year – will be available for harvest by sportfishers in the state’s coastal waters.
“We could actually have a pretty good chinook fishery in June,” Milward said. “There will also be a season in July, but there’s a good chance we’ll have to close the fishery earlier than in previous years to meet conservation goals for coho salmon.”
Under this year’s rules, anglers are limited to one chinook salmon per day from June 1-28. All other salmon species – including coho – must be released during that period.
Starting June 29, the daily limit will increase to two salmon per day, including one chinook. As in past years, anglers may retain fin-clipped hatchery coho, but must release any unmarked wild coho they intercept.
Salmon fishing in Marine Area 1 (Ilwaco) opens June 1, seven days per week. Marine Area 2 (Westport) also opens June 1, but fishing is restricted to Sundays through Thursdays. On the north coast, fishing opens June 3 in marine areas 3 and 4 (LaPush and Neah Bay) five days per week, Tuesdays through Saturdays.
Additional fishing regulations, including minimum size limits and area catch guidelines are described in WDFW’s Fishing in Washington rules pamphlet, available online at http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/regs_seasons.html.
This year’s 20,350-fish coho quota – the lowest in a decade – will likely be a significant constraint on the fishery, Milward said. In contrast, last year’s quota was 117,500 fish.
The low coho quota this year reflects a forecast of poor coho returns to the Columbia River, which produces more of those fish than any river in the state, Milward said. According to preseason projections, only about 196,000 coho are predicted to return to the Columbia this year, compared to an actual return of 462,000 in 2007.
Fishery managers have attributed the low coho returns expected to the Columbia and other rivers to poor ocean conditions in 2005 and 2006.
“The limited seasons we have crafted this year are carefully designed to meet or exceed our conservation objectives while providing opportunities to harvest healthy hatchery chinook stocks,” said Phil Anderson, WDFW deputy director. “Anglers who want to participate in this year’s fishery off the Washington coast should plan to go early, because we’re likely to reach the limited catch quotas earlier than usual.”
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