[4] Forecasters Say 2007 Spring Run Should Be Down, But Redfish Sockeye Up

Columbia Basin harvest managers have pegged next year's upriver spring chinook run in the Columbia River at a mere 78,000 fish. That is about 10,000 fish below their forecast for the 2006 run, which came in significantly better, at 88,400, a 50-percent boost.

They have estimated that more than 13,000 wild spring/summer chinook will be part of that run, slightly lower than last year's forecast of 14,600 fish. More than 21,000 wild Snake springers (to mouth of Columbia) actually showed up, about 50 percent above the forecast.

The managers had lowballed last year's upriver Columbia summer run as well, at 49,000 fish, but more than 76,000 actually showed up. This year, they expect about 45,600.

For the upper Columbia springers, they estimate about 9,200 fish returning, with 1,200 of them wild. Last year, the run came in 36 percent better than expected, at 17,100 fish.

The Willamette should produce about 52,000 spring chinook next year, they said, with the Cowlitz, Kalama and Lewis rivers producing 16,300 fish, and the Yakima around 6,100 spring chinook. Last year, the Yakima produced about 6,000.

For 2007, the managers said about 37,000 sockeye are expected to return to the Columbia, with most heading for the upper Columbia. But they estimated that about 300 ESA-listed Redfish Lake sockeye would enter the Columbia in 2007. In 2006, they estimated the Redfish Lake return at 21 fish, and revised it upwards to 79 fish by the end of the season. -B. R.

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