Coho salmon, which spawned as far up- 

 stream as the Spokane River in the Columbia 

 drainage and in the Grande Ronde River 

 (Snake River Basin) but principally in trib- 

 utaries of the lower river, were also scattered 

 in several tributaries of the middle river. 

 Sockeye salmon were distributed in eight lake 

 systems, mostly in the middle and upper water- 

 shed. Chum salmon spawned in the lower 

 portions of most streams below John Day Dam. 



The abundance of the different species in 

 the Columbia River is compared in tables 1 

 and 2. Table 1 shows the relative numbers 

 of each species, and table 2 the weight of the 

 landings. The order of fish in the total run 

 (table 1) varies from the order in weight of 

 landings (table 2), because of differences in 

 weight per fish and in the proportion of the 

 run caught. Chinook, 0. tshmvytscha, are by 

 far the most abundant salmon in the Columbia 

 River Basin; the river produces more of this 

 species than any other stream in the world 

 (Washington Department of Fisheries, 1959). 

 For the 20-year period, 1947-66 (table 2), pro- 

 duction of Chinook salmon was seven times 

 greater than that of steelhead trout, the next 

 species in abundance. The catch of all spe- 

 cies except coho and sockeye salmon was lower 

 in 1957-66 than in 1947-56. Decreases were 

 47 percent for steelhead trout, 46 percent for 

 Chinook salmon, and 93 percent for chum 

 salmon; increases were about 18 percent for 

 coho salmon and 6 percent for sockeye salmon. 



As a sequel to the report on spawning areas 

 and abundance of chinook salmon in the Co- 

 lumbia River Basin (Fulton, 1968) , the present 

 report contains similar information on the re- 

 maining species of salmon and trout of com- 

 mercial importance: steelhead trout and coho, 

 sockeye, and chum salmon. The fifth species 

 of Pacific salmon, pink (0. gorbuscha), is rare 

 in the Columbia River and is therefore not 

 discussed. Past spawning areas refer to those 

 taken out of use before 1969; present spawn- 

 ing areas refer to those in use during 1969. 



Sources of information were described in 

 the previous report and are listed in tables 3, 

 5, 8, 9, and in the literature cited section of 

 this report. Some data on steelhead trout are 

 from the annual reports of the Fishery Di- 

 vision of the Oregon State Game Commission 

 (Oregon State Game Commission, 1958-64). 



Table 1.— Average annual commercial and sport catch, 

 escapement, and total run of salmon and trout in the 

 Columbia River, 1958-67 



^ Includes 12.700 fish caught in the lower Willamette River and 26,700 

 in the sport fishery at the mouth of the Columbia (1964-67). 



2 These are minimal estimates because large numbers of chinook and 

 coho salmon are taken in the ocean troll fishery. An unknown number 

 of these fish are of Columbia River origin. 



^ Sport catches estimated at mouth of the Columbia River and lower 

 Columbia River area to Bonneville Dam. 



* Average sport catch for 1962-66 in the Columbia River and trib- 

 utaries. 



^ Unknown numbers of spawners in tributaries below Bonneville Dam 

 are lacking from total run. 



* No sport fishery exists for sockeye and chum salmon. 



Table 2.— Annual landings of salmon and trout by the 

 commercial fishery in the Columbia River, 1947-66, in 

 thousands of kilograms and (in parentheses) thousands 

 of fish^ 



1966 



1,618 (203) 177 ( 47) 1,957 (439) 



(4) 5(1) 



Averages for different periods 

 1947-56 4,911(523.6) 616(152.2)422(85.8) 114(76.0)236(47.5) 

 1957-66 2,595(291.6) 332(87.8) 497(113.8)120(66.7) 16(2.6) 

 1947-66 3,753(407.6) 474(120.0)459(99.8) 117(71.4)126(25.1) 



1 Data are from Fish Commission of Oregon and Washington Depart- 

 ment of Fisheries (1968), except for numbers of coho and chum salmon 

 for the years 1947-63 which are from Ward, Robison, and Palmen (1963). 



Unpublisiie(i data on runs and spawning were 

 provided by Charles J. Campbell, Wendel H. 

 Stout, and James A. Hewkin of the Oregon 

 State Game Commission; Robert T. Gunsolus, 

 Lawrence Korn, Jack M. Van Hyning, Lincoln 

 S. Pearson, and Robert N. Thompson of the 

 Fish Commission of Oregon; Thomas K. 

 Meekin, Clinton E. Stockley, and Henry 0. 



