[3] Pikeminnow Catch Down From Previous Years

The nearly 142,000 pikeminnow caught this year in the BPA-funded bounty program was down from the typical catch of 160,000 to 200,000, but officials were quick to point out that it doesn't necessarily mean the program designed to reduce predation on juvenile salmonids is running out of steam.

More likely, it may be running out of the right-sized pikeminnow that qualify for a reward of four to eight bucks apiece.

"This year, the total number of pikeminnow caught was lower than in recent years, but we believe it's due to the program doing what it was designed to do, reduce the number of pikeminnow in the river," said Russell Porter, senior program manager for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, in a press release. "But that's not to say that we should stop fishing for them."

To improve participation, especially toward the end of the season, the pikeminnow program has added some new marketing strategies. Anglers pulled 180 specially tagged fish out of the river this season worth $500 each. After Aug 1, anglers were eligible for weekly drawings of $1,000, for a total of $60,000.

"The real winners are the salmon, because pikeminnow eat millions of juvenile salmon and steelhead every year," said BPA project manager John Skidmore. "Reducing the number of these predators through this program helps boost salmon and steelhead survival."

Since 1991, more than 3.3 million northern pikeminnow have been removed from the Snake and Columbia rivers through the program. Last year 158,191 northern pikeminnow were turned in. As a result, northern pikeminnow predation on juvenile salmon in 2009 was cut by an estimated 37 percent.

Most are caught below Bonneville Dam. Since 1991, that part of the Columbia has accounted for about 40 percent of the total pikeminnow harvest. Annual reports estimate that catch-per-unit effort averaged 6.2 pikeminnow per angler in 2001, rising to 7.7 by 2008. -B. R.

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