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

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 to be open from Jan. 1-April 30, from May 14-June 26 and from July 1-4. But fishery managers on Thursday decided to let fishery continue until July 31 unless catch rates skyrocket and threaten what is a relatively depleted stock.

The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Steve Williams and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Guy Norman scheduled a “check-in” meeting for July 13 to review catch data and decide whether the fishery should continue until that July 31 end date. Oregon and Washington co-manage fisheries on the Columbia mainstem where it represents the states’ border.

The white sturgeon fishery from the Wauna powerlines at river mile 40 down to the river mouth has resulted in a catch through June 19 of this year of an estimated 1,230 fish from 9,000 angler trips (0.137 kept/angler) compared to 2,200 kept from 17,500 angler trips (0.125 kept/angler) in 2010. Effort to date is tracking at 51 percent of 2010 and about 40 percent of the 2009-2010 average, according to a June 23 Joint Staff Report: Fact Sheet compiled by the staffs of the Oregon and Washington departments of fish and wildlife.

The below Wauna sport allocation for 2011 is 6,800 sturgeon.