Columbia salmon summer chinook forecast 2011

Columbia salmon summer chinook forecast 2011 : The upper Columbia summer chinook run size remained at low levels throughout the 1980s and 1990s, with average returns of 19,400 and 15,300 fish, respectively. Hatchery supplementation programs and improved natural habitat have played a significant role in the increased abundance trends observed since 1999. The Upper Columbia summer chinook stock is now considered healthy and is not protected under the Endangered Species Act, in contrast to the wild portions of 13 other Columbia Basin salmon and steelhead stocks.

The forecast is for a return of 198,400 upriver spring chinook, fish headed for tributary spawning grounds and hatcheries in the Snake River basin and the mid- and upper Columbia. That about matches the 2005-2009 average of 203,100, but falls well short of 2010’s total of 315,345. Last year’s return was the third largest dating back to at least 1980. read more,....

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