Columbia River Fisheries

Sport Fishermen on the Columbia River -Photo by Kathy Munsel-

The Columbia River offers premiere opportunities to fish for salmon, steelhead, sturgeon, shad and a variety of warmwater species. Management of the river and its fisheries is a responsibility shared by state, federal and tribal agencies. The overarching management objective is to meet conservation requirements while providing optimum sport and commercial fishing opportunities.

Hot Topics

• Lower Mainstem Columbia River Fisheries Management Reform
• California Sea Lion Management
• Columbia River 2012 Adult Returns and 2013 Expectations
• Current sport fishing regulations for Columbia River
• Columbia River Action notices – including commercial fishing seasons
• Bonneville Dam fish counts
• Columbia River Spring/Summer Chinook, Sockeye and Steelhead Returns and Forecasts
• Columbia River Fall Chinook Returns and Forecasts
• Sport Fishing Harvest Reports
• Buying treaty-caught Columbia River fish (pdf)

News Releases

• 02/14/13: Barbless rule remains in place
• 01/30/13: States set spring Chinook, sturgeon seasons for Columbia and Willamette rivers
  

Columbia River Sport Fishing

• Oregon Sport Fishing Regulations
  
• Changes and Updates to 2012 Oregon Regulations
• Washington Sport Fishing Regulations (pdf)
• Washington Sampling Summaries
• Salmon Species Identification
• Sport Fishing Harvest Reports

Commercial Fishing Boats in Astoria -Photo by Rick Swart-

• Columbia River Dam Counts (Army Corps of Engineers)

Willamette River Sport Fishing

• Lower Willamette Fisheries and Willamette Falls Fish Counts

• Willamette Zone Regulation Changes and Updates

Columbia River Commercial Fishing

• Statewide Commercial Fisheries
  

• Commercial Fishing Regulation Synopsis (pdf)
  

• Compact Action Notices, notification of commercial seasons set.
  

• Landings (Commercial Fishing Harvest Reports)
  

• Mainstem Commercial Fishing Zones Map and Descriptions (pdf)
  

• Select Area Commercial Fishing Zones Map (pdf)
  

Columbia River Fisheries Management

• Columbia River Action Notices – meeting notices, and actions taken by the Oregon and Washington fish & wildlife agencies regarding specific fishery seasons and quotas.
  

• Columbia River Management Fact Sheets – joint Oregon and Washington staff reports considered when making management decisions regarding sport/commercial fisheries.
  

• Columbia River Management Reports – annual stock status and fisheries reports, and various annual reports.
  

• Columbia River Adult Returns and Expectations –summarizes the expected and actual returns for several species on the Columbia River and major tributaries, and offers expectations and/or forecasts for the coming year.
  

• Post-season summaries – summarizes the previous year’s seasons, harvest, and management actions.

Frequently asked questions

• What impact does the federal Endangered Species Act have on fishing seasons and quotas?
  
• Why does ODFW allow commercial fishing in the Columbia River?
  
• How does ODFW determine how long the salmon fishing seasons are and what the quotas will be?
  
• If there are so few salmon that sport fisheries are being reduced or closed, why doesn’t ODFW simply raise more hatchery fish?
  
• Why are commercial fisheries open right now, when sport fisheries are closed?
  
• There are large numbers of fish going over Bonneville Dam right now. Why is the season closed?
  
• Why was the fishing season closed with such short notice?
  
• How did the DFWs miss the estimate for this fishing season by so much?
  
• Why haven’t the Willamette Falls fish counts been updated recently?
  
• Where do I find commercial season information?
  
• How do the DFWs estimate recreational catch?
  
• What is “Selectivity” and how is it used in the management of Columbia River Fisheries?