10 



COMMERCIAL FISHERIES REVIEW 



Vol. 28. No. 11 



spineless animals like the copepods that are 

 food for fish. The collection of the last 3 

 summers did not produce specimens from 8 

 of these species. 



Before 1880, the annual oyster crop in the 

 lower Hudson was 10-20 million pounds. To- 

 day, oysters and clams are virtually gone. 



The waters of New York Harbor are so 

 awful that even pests like the teredo (ship- 

 worm) cannot stand them. (The teredo bores 

 into and devastates wooden pilings.) 



Oregon 



COLUMBIA RIVER FALL 

 FISH RUNS EXCELLENT 



"Every day is fish day now," said Herman 

 P. Meier jurgen, chairman of the Oregon Fish 

 Commission in late September, referring to 

 fall salmon runs in the Columbia River. "It 

 is a very satisfying feeling to be confronted 

 with good numbers of fish everywhere we 

 look." 



The favorable catch and escapement of 

 summer steelhead trout, fall Chinook, and 

 coho salmon were good. The escapement 

 goals over Bonneville Dam set by manage- 

 ment agencies for optimum production were 

 exceeded. 



Summer -run steelhead, mostly destined 

 for the upper Columbia and Snake River sys- 

 tems, were A and B, or early and late, com- 

 ponents; their escapement levels are 85,000 

 and 35,000 fish, respectively. Ninety-nine 

 thousand A and 41,000 B steelhead have been 

 counted over Bonneville Dam, exceeding com- 

 bined goals by 20,000 fish. Commercial land- 

 ings were down from the average of recent 

 years, primarily because of restricted sea- 

 sons. Sport fishing in the Columbia River 

 has been generally good, although steelhead 

 were just starting to move over Ice Harbor 

 Dam in good numbers. Cooler water temp- 

 eratures were luring them into the upper 

 river and the range of Idaho anglers. Even 

 though the run is slightly below average, the 

 good spawning escapement portends favor- 

 able returns. 



Chinook Escapement Goal Exceeded 



The fall chinook escapement goal is 

 100,000-125,000 fish over Bonneville Dam. 

 As of September 27, the count was 147,000, 

 although this included a higher than usual 

 proportion of jacks: 18 percent this year, 

 compared with the normal 11 percent. Hold- 

 ing ponds have sufficient fish to exceed pro- 

 gramed egg-takes to fill all stations. The 

 ponds are in the hatcheries of the Fish Com- 

 mission, Washington Department of Fisher- 

 ies, and Interior Department's Bureau of 

 Sport Fisheries and Wildlife in the Bonne- 

 ville pool area and below. Landings from the 

 gill -net fishery in the Columbia River below 

 Bonneville Dam in August and September were 

 estimated at about 2.6 million pounds, slight- 

 ly below the average of 2.7 million pounds 

 taken during the past 10 years. 



The Columbia River's commercial fishery 

 is managed jointly by the Oregon Fish Com- 

 mission and the Washington Department of 

 Fisheries. The 2 agencies extended the late 

 August season by 2 days to permit harvest of 

 the apparent late fall chinook run. After a 

 23 -day closure, they opened the September 

 season when the escapement picture was fav- 

 orable. 



Sport fishing at the mouth of the Columbia 

 has been particularly good this season. A 

 preliminary estimate was somewhere near 

 59,000 fall Chinook, a record rod-and-reel 

 take. 



A preliminary estimate of the troll chi- 

 nook catch in late September from the Colum - 

 bia River area, composed primarily of fall 

 Chinook of Columbia River origin, showed it 

 as good as 1963, the best since 1956. 



The fall chinook picture for the Columbia 

 River is encouraging for this year. Estab- 

 lished escapement levels have been exceeded, 

 the hatcheries have sufficient fish for capaci- 

 ty egg-takes, sport catch was excellent, the 

 river gill-net landings were about average, 

 and the troll take better than average. The 

 total run will be about 290,000, close to the 

 average of the past 15 years. 



Coho Status Most Encouraging 



The coho picture was the most encourag- 

 ing of all. Troll landings from the Columbia 



