The Wahkiakum County Eagle - Established as The Skamokawa Eagle in 1891

A chum salmon reintroduction project has quietly and successfully moved beyond its fifth year in the Columbia River between Astoria and Clatskanie. Once one of the most abundant of salmon species in the Columbia River, chum salmon made up as much as...

The forecasted run of fall chinook salmon into the Columbia River rose to 1,095,900, more than 15 percent higher than the preseason forecast of 925,300 chinook. Reporting the increase Sept. 17 to the two-state Columbia River Compact, the U.S. v...

Globally, 60 percent of fish caught by recreational anglers are released and many of those anglers use manual release techniques they believe will help the fish survive. However, according to a recent study, many of those fish will live just a short...

With the spring chinook salmon run estimate rising above 282,000 fish, the two-state Columbia River Compact added more fishing time for both commercial and treaty Indian gillnetters, while recreational fishing remains open in all zones on the Columbi...

The Columbia River Compact on Wednesday approved a new round of commercial fisheries for both tribal and non-Indian commercial netters on the mainstem Columbia that will likely bring to a close what has been a record-breaking harvest on a...

Tribal and non-tribal commercial fishers, as well as lower Columbia River anglers, are sweeping in tens of thousands of salmon this year even while fishery managers keep a close watch on impacts to protected stocks such as so-called “B” ste...

The Columbia River Compact on Aug. 12 gave the green light to the first commercial seine fishing for salmon on the lower Columbia River mainstem since the nets were prohibited under state law by Washington in 1935 and by Oregon in 1950. The pilot...

Aug. 1 marked the opening of the long-awaited fall fishing season on the mainstem Columbia River, which this year is expected to see a record number of fall chinook salmon, a run of coho spawners forecast to be 156 percent of the 2004-2013 average...

Menacing “El Nino” signs have eased though not disappeared. But another potential salmon nemesis – an apparent warm phase Pacific Decadal Oscillation – has made an appearance with warmer than average sea surface water conditions from the Gulf of...

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers last week announced it has extended by 15 days the public comment period on a draft plan detailing possible alternatives to reduce predation by double-crested cormorants on juvenile salmon and steelhead that are...

A next big step down a “presumptive path” toward phasing out non-tribal commercial gill-nets on the lower Columbia River will be the deployment late this summer of 10 permit holders equipped with beach and purse seines, equipment that had been out...

A next big step down a “presumptive path” toward phasing out non-tribal commercial gill-nets on the lower Columbia River will be the deployment late this summer of 10 permit holders equipped with beach and purse seines, equipment that had been out...

With catch limits near, planned commercial fisheries targeting spring chinook salmon in so-called “select areas” in the lower Columbia River estuary were rescinded and/or trimmed back in decisions made this week by Oregon and Washington. That leaves...

Coho salmon returns to the Columbia River are expected to rebound in a big way this year, according to forecasts produced by federal, state and tribal fishery officials. Ocean abundance (before any fisheries) of Columbia River early and late run...

The Cathlamet Channel in southwest Washington is about to become the state’s second off-channel or select area commercial gill-net fishery. In a state that has few potential off-channel sites for rearing and fishing on the lower Columbia River, this...

Steller sea lion consumption of spawning salmon and steelhead in the waters below the lower Columbia River’s Bonneville Dam continued its upward trend during the late winter-spring of 2013, according to a year-end report prepared by a U.S. Army C...

The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife last week released a determination of non-significance under the State Environmental Policy Act that says development of a new commercial fishing area along the lower Columbia River's north shore at Cath...

Light effort and catch so far allowed Oregon and Washington managers to extend on June 23 the white sturgeon season below Wauna on the lower Columbia River despite concerns about the population status of the big fish. The fishery had been scheduled...

A higher-than-anticipated early commercial catch of upriver spring chinook in Columbia River estuary “select areas” forced Oregon and Washington officials to rescind six fishing periods that had been scheduled this week. The upriver spring chi...