Future of the steelhead trout runs. — Since 

 1938, the runs of steelhead trout in the Co- 

 lumbia River have gradually declined. The 

 present greater survival of steelhead trout 

 raised in hatcheries, however, should help to 

 stabilize the runs at about 200.000 to 250,000 

 fish per year. 



Coho Salmon 



Spawning areas. — Formerly, the concentra- 

 tion of siiawning was in the lower tributaries 

 but many fish used the middle and upper trib- 

 utaries also. This species now spawns pre- 

 dominantly in lower tributaries. In order of 

 importance, the rivers for natural spawning 

 are the Cowlitz, Toutle, Willamette (including 

 the Clackamas River and other tributaries), 

 Kalama, and Grays; the streams for hatchery 

 production are Washougal River, Kalama Riv- 

 er, Toutle River, Klaskanine River, Tanner 

 Creek, Big Creek, Eagle Creek, Little White 

 Salmon River, Sandy River, Grays River, 

 Elokomin River, and Eagle Creek (Clackamas 

 River) . 



The production of coho salmon in hatcher- 

 ies has recently become important because the 

 techniques of hatchery management have been 

 improved — namely, the development of pellet- 

 ized food, rearing of the fish to the yearling 

 stage, and better treatment of diseases. 



Abundance. — The commercial production of 

 coho salmon, which was formerly our best in- 

 dicator of the abundance of this species, reached 

 a peak of about 3.6 million kg. in 192.5 and a 

 low point of 5.5,000 kg. in 1959. Since 1960, 

 the commercial take of coho salmon has been 

 on the increase; the catch in 1967 of about 

 2 million kg. was the largest in recent years. 

 During the last 6 years, offshore catches by 

 sport and commercial fishermen have increased 

 greatly. Many of the coho salmon caught off- 

 shore originated in the Columbia River. 



Future of the coho salmon runs. — Since 

 the alltime low in 1959, the runs of coho salmon 

 in the Columbia River have increased markedly 

 because of the increasing survival of juveniles 

 raised in the hatcheries. Present runs average 

 about 2 to 3 million coho salmon per year; it 

 is expected that future runs will probably aver- 

 age about 5 million coho salmon per year. 



Sockeye Salmon 



Spawning areas. — Sockeye salmon original- 

 ly spawned in eight systems of lakes in the Co- 

 lumbia River. Of the original eight systems, 

 only three are producing today. The run, how- 

 ever, is almost entirely supported by fish from 

 Lake Wenatchee and Lake Osoyoos. 



Abundance. — The runs of sockeye salmon 

 fluctuate widely in abundance. The largest 

 single pack of canned salmon — 2 million kg. 

 — was in 1898. The smallest pack — 4,000 

 kg. — was in 1941. The average for the 10- 

 year period from 1956 to 1966 was 120,000 kg. 



Future of the sockeye salmon runs. — Since 

 1929, the runs of sockeye salmon in the Co- 

 lumbia River have declined markedly from 

 those of earlier years. 



Despite this marked decline, however, the 

 sockeye has shown resiliency. After being al- 

 most destroyed in 1938-45, it recovered and 

 again faced destruction in 1961, but recovered. 

 The present data, however, point to another 

 decline. 



Three relatively new factors may influence 

 the future of the sockeye salmon in the Co- 

 lumbia River; namely, (1) hatcheries have 

 stopped rearing them, (2) most of the Colum- 

 bia River downstream from the rearing areas 

 is now impounded, and the impoundments re- 

 duce the survival of downstream migrants, and 

 (3) improvements in natural spawTiing areas 

 that have been proposed, if effected, may in- 

 crease the number of juveniles in the down- 

 stream migrations. With two adverse factors 

 and one possibly favorable factor, the net re- 

 sults are not predictable. 



Chum Salmon 



Spawning areas. — Chum, the least abun- 

 dant salmon on the Columbia River, spawns 

 in late autumn or early winter. Character- 

 istically, it has short spawning migrations and 

 accordingly spawns in tributaries of the lower 

 Columbia River. The tributaries on the north 

 side — that is, those on the Washington side, 

 are the heaviest producers. The most impor- 

 tant producers, in order of importance are: 



33 



