ODFW LCR Harvest Management 2021-23

This project will implement the harvest actions identified in the Lower Columbia River Conservation and Recovery Plan for Oregon Populations of Salmon and Steelhead and the Upper Willamette River Conservation and Recovery Plan for Chinook Salmon and Steelhead by collecting and tracking harvest and abundance information to ensure harvest impacts were maintained at, or below, identified levels.

The following data will be collected (or work will be conducted) in the Columbia and lower Willamette Rivers by this project, and will be used to set in-season and future harvest regulations as well as inform management direction for resource protection and enhancement:
• Aerial effort counts of boats and/or bank anglers
• Catch determined through angler interviews regarding trip length and numbers of fish caught and released
• Catch sampling for biological data (length, age scales, sex, fin marks, external tags, and other anomalies)
• Recovery of coded-wire tags (for extraction, decoding, and importation into a regional database by another work unit)
• Preparation and age assessment of scales
• Data analysis to assess age and size composition of various annual runs and races within the study area
• Digital video recordings of fish passage at Willamette Falls Fishway to estimate size, stock, fin marks, and species of all passing fish, and provide daily and total counts to fishery managers and the public
• Maintenance of equipment and facilities that ensured continued safe passage and video recording of fish at Willamette Falls Fishway.