Fishing News
Fish Biologists Predict Large Drop In Fall Coho Run From Last Year
By Jim Kadera, [email protected]
The days of record coho salmon runs may not return soon, but there is no doom and gloom in the Clackamas Basin.
State and federal fish biologists have predicted a sharp decline in the Columbia River coho run this fall, primarily from a depleted river flow last spring during a drought and energy shortage. However, the outlook is not as pessimistic for the Clackamas system, where Eagle Creek National Fish Hatchery produces a large share of returning coho.
"Eagle Creek is still one of the bright spots," Steve King, salmon harvest manager for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, said Wednesday. "The survival rates have been outstanding the last five years. They're doing something right at that hatchery."
Also, Willamette River flows have been strong enough to give juvenile salmon a good push in their migration to the Pacific Ocean, King said.
He estimated at least 10,000 coho will return to the Eagle Creek hatchery this fall, compared with 31,000 last fall and a record 38,500 in 2000.
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