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Winter steelhead pulled from the Umpqua River. Oregon State Police say more anglers are keeping wild fish illegally throughout the river system, but especially below Elkton.
The illegal taking of wild winter steelhead from the Umpqua River system has been on the increase, according to the Oregon State Police.
A couple weeks ago in a two-day period, eight citations for the violation were written.
“People are frustrated and they're keeping wild fish,” said Sgt. Dean Perske of the OSP Fish and Wildlife Division. “It's a problem throughout the system, but mainly below Elkton.
The frustration stems from the fact that very few of the winter steelhead being caught by anglers are hatchery fish that can be kept for the grill or smoker. The majority of the catch has been wild and by law those must be released back into the river.
A clipped adipose fin on the steelhead is what designates it as a hatchery fish. This is the second consecutive year that there's been a small hatchery run, a result of mortality to fry in the Rock Creek Hatchery a couple years ago because of a warm water event through the fish rearing facility. In 2007, only 16,600 smolts were released and in 2008, 28,200 fish were released. Studies show there is a 3 to 5 percent survival rate of steelhead, depending on ocean conditions, and subsequent return to the river.
Perske said that in some cases anglers have just kept wild fish and in other cases anglers have clipped the adipose fin of a wild fish to make it look like a hatchery fish. He said, however, that it's easy to tell if a fin has been recently clipped.
Officers, both in uniform and in plain clothes, are working the Umpqua River to watch for these situations. The officers are using unmarked boats to watch from the river and brush to hide themselves while observing from the bank.
“We are out there,” Perske said. “Please be sure to release non-clipped fish. Hold on until next year when we should have good clipped returns.”
The sergeant said that the fine for keeping a wild fish is a minimum $299 and the restitution fee is a minimum $250 per fish. Anglers can also be fined for mutilating a steelhead if seen clipping a fish fin or being in possession of a recently clipped fish.
Perske added that there's also been some violations of the second rod license on the river. He said that license applies only to lakes, ponds and reservoirs, and that it's illegal for one person to fish with two rods in a river.
“Anglers could also face a two-year suspension of their angling license,” Perske said of any of these violations. “People are aware of the rules, they're just not following them. This year some people have been pretty blatant about it.”
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials are aware of the fish issues and frustration, but are confident anglers will be much more satisfied with their winter steelhead catch in 2011 because of increased returns from the 90,000 smolts that were released to migrate to the ocean last year. This year's release of fish is scheduled to total 100,000.
“Starting next season and then on, we should have good returns of clipped fish,” Perske said. “Until then we're making a concerted effort at enforcement to protect the wild fish so they can go up (river) and make more wild fish.”
• You can reach Features editor Craig Reed at 957-4210 or by e-mail at creed@nrtoday.com.
A couple weeks ago in a two-day period, eight citations for the violation were written.
“People are frustrated and they're keeping wild fish,” said Sgt. Dean Perske of the OSP Fish and Wildlife Division. “It's a problem throughout the system, but mainly below Elkton.
The frustration stems from the fact that very few of the winter steelhead being caught by anglers are hatchery fish that can be kept for the grill or smoker. The majority of the catch has been wild and by law those must be released back into the river.
A clipped adipose fin on the steelhead is what designates it as a hatchery fish. This is the second consecutive year that there's been a small hatchery run, a result of mortality to fry in the Rock Creek Hatchery a couple years ago because of a warm water event through the fish rearing facility. In 2007, only 16,600 smolts were released and in 2008, 28,200 fish were released. Studies show there is a 3 to 5 percent survival rate of steelhead, depending on ocean conditions, and subsequent return to the river.
Perske said that in some cases anglers have just kept wild fish and in other cases anglers have clipped the adipose fin of a wild fish to make it look like a hatchery fish. He said, however, that it's easy to tell if a fin has been recently clipped.
Officers, both in uniform and in plain clothes, are working the Umpqua River to watch for these situations. The officers are using unmarked boats to watch from the river and brush to hide themselves while observing from the bank.
“We are out there,” Perske said. “Please be sure to release non-clipped fish. Hold on until next year when we should have good clipped returns.”
The sergeant said that the fine for keeping a wild fish is a minimum $299 and the restitution fee is a minimum $250 per fish. Anglers can also be fined for mutilating a steelhead if seen clipping a fish fin or being in possession of a recently clipped fish.
Perske added that there's also been some violations of the second rod license on the river. He said that license applies only to lakes, ponds and reservoirs, and that it's illegal for one person to fish with two rods in a river.
“Anglers could also face a two-year suspension of their angling license,” Perske said of any of these violations. “People are aware of the rules, they're just not following them. This year some people have been pretty blatant about it.”
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife officials are aware of the fish issues and frustration, but are confident anglers will be much more satisfied with their winter steelhead catch in 2011 because of increased returns from the 90,000 smolts that were released to migrate to the ocean last year. This year's release of fish is scheduled to total 100,000.
“Starting next season and then on, we should have good returns of clipped fish,” Perske said. “Until then we're making a concerted effort at enforcement to protect the wild fish so they can go up (river) and make more wild fish.”
• You can reach Features editor Craig Reed at 957-4210 or by e-mail at creed@nrtoday.com.
