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CLEAR Temp: 71 °F Wind: W at 4 mph Thursday, June 26, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend December 26, 2002 Anglers can harvest wild steelhead again By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune After a five-year ban on the harvest of wild steelhead, Oregon anglers can get a taste of the wild fish again in some south coast streams when a late Christmas present comes Wednesday. Beginning Jan. 1, anglers will be able to harvest a single wild steelhead a day on the Chetco River, the Elk River and four smaller streams that flow out of the Coast Range to the sea in Curry County. The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission in July unanimously adopted the new wild steelhead bag limit for these streams after Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists successfully argued their wild steelhead populations are some of the healthiest along the coast — and, perhaps, the world. The effected streams are the Chetco, the Elk, Hunter Creek, Pistol River, the Winchuck River along the Oregon/California border and Euchre Creek, which is a small stream near Port Orford. They all are considered high producers of some of the largest winter steelhead grown in Oregon. Of these streams, only the Chetco has a hatchery steelhead program, with just 50,000 winter steelhead smolts released annually into the river at Brookings. The new rule allows an angler to keep one wild steelhead as part of the two-fish daily limit on these streams. But anglers can keep just five wild steelhead a year. A similar rule is in effect on the Rogue during the winter steelhead run. The wild steelhead ban was part of a deal ODFW cut in 1997 with the National Marine Fisheries Service to sidestep a threatened species listing for wild steelhead in Southern Oregon and Northern California. Russ Stauff, an ODFW biologist in Gold Beach, pushed for five years for the change because he believes the streams' bountiful steelhead populations warrant some harvest. ODFW surveys since 1997 show these streams are teeming with infant steelhead at concentrations never recorded in the United States, Canada and Russia. "We probably have the healthiest population of steelhead in the world," says Stauff. "I think this is the best way to protect these populations." Since the ban on wild steelhead harvest, Stauff had received heavy pressure from angling groups to increase the stocking of hatchery steelhead in the Chetco and to expand the program to the Elk River and other streams mired in an all catch-and-release fishery. But Stauff thought expanding the hatchery program was unnecessary and expensive, and instead began working on getting the wild steelhead ban lifted. The proposal garnered strong support from some of Oregon's most staunch wild-fish advocacy groups because the research showed these particular runs can absorb limited harvest. "I like it," says Bill Bakke, founder of the Portland-based Native Fish Society. "If you have a robust population where you can allow a low kill, that's less risky than adding hatchery fish." Stauff says harvest on wild steelhead likely will be low because many anglers want to release all the wild steelhead they catch as an ethical choice. However, allowing the occasional harvest of a wild fish taps into the heritage of winter steelhead fishing — killing and eating a prized fish — without jeopardizing the runs. "I think what we're developing here is a new ethic," Stauff says. "It's a combination of the new (catch-and-release) dogma and heritage." The change comes as winter steelhead fishing kicks into gear on the Chetco, where recent rains have drawn the first steelhead of the year upriver, says Tony Kronemeyer of the Sporthaven Marina at the Chetco’s mouth. Fishing with roe and plug lures are popular on the Chetco and Elk, which are easily traversed in driftboats by even novice rowers. Pistol River, Hunter Creek, the Winchuck River and Euchre Creek are all fished off the bank by wading anglers who primarily cast roe and corkies. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Rogue Valley Auto Finder Rogue Valley Job Finder --> Rogue Valley Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Real Estate Showcase Food for Thought Hike of the Week Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Openings Prime Times