"Preliminary research findings show that coho salmon released from lower Columbia River net pens are showing strong overall survival rates. The BPA-funded ongoing study finds that the three percent survival rate for these coho is higher than the traditional hatchery runs. The total survival rate for all Columbia River coho salmon in 1996 was less than one percent, including all traditional hatchery and net pen production. The returning fish were reared and released just 18 months ago from four net pen sites near the mouth of the Columbia. These sites are Youngs Bay, Tongue Point and Blind Slough in Oregon and Deep River in Washington. Returning net pen coho salmon from BPA-funded programs represented 42 percent of the 1996 commercial harvest from the lower Columbia River. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Clatsop Economic Development Council manage the lower Columbia River net pen program in Oregon and Washington. ODFW and WDFW are conducting feasibility studies on proposed new net pen sites in both states."

Cowlitzfisherman