[2] Columbia Fall Chinook Runs Expected To Be Down, But Coho Up

Columbia Basin harvest managers estimate this year's upriver bright run heading for the Hanford Reach will be about 77 percent of the 10-year average, or about 182,000 chinook (counted at river mouth). That's about 48,000 fewer fish than returned last year, which came in about 10 percent shy of their wintertime prediction last year.

Only about 22,000 Bonneville hatchery tules are expected, only about 25 percent of the 10-year average--and about 6,000 less than last year.

While about 55,000 lower river hatchery chinook are estimated to return next summer, along with about 10,000 wild ones. When 38,500 Bonneville upriver brights and Pool Upriver brights are added, the tally reaches 337,200 fall chinook returning to the river, about 67 percent of the recent 10-year average.

Counts of fall chinook at Bonneville Dam over the past 20 years have ranged from 113,000 in 1992 to the bonanza years of 2001-2006 when counts ranged from about 400,000 to well over half a million.

Managers expect more than 564,000 hatchery coho to return to the Columbia River this year, with over 400,000 of them in the early run. Last year, about 408,000 showed up.

Another 29,000 coho are expected from coastal hatcheries, with Oregon coast natural coho numbers expected in the 255,000-fish range. Last year, the natural run came in about twice as good as managers had expected, at 116,000 fish. -B. R.

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