LONGVIEW -- In what might seem like a time warp, purse seines, beach seines and fish traps will reappear up and down the Columbia River this summer.

A Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife test of alternative commercial fishing gear will be expanded from last summer's pilot project, with new work scheduled from mid-August through October.

However, years of further testing are likely before Columbia River commercial fishermen use anything other than gillnets to catch salmon and sturgeon.

Alternatives to gillnets are getting more attention as fishery managers try to increase the catch of hatchery salmon so they don't compete with wild salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act.

At the same time, biologists want to minimize mortality of wild fish that are caught and released.

For more than 50 years, Columbia River commercial fishermen have used only gillnets, which have a mesh size ranging from six to nine inches and trap fish by the gills. Gillnets must be hauled on board boats before the fish can be removed. By that time, fish that must be released may be injured too badly to survive.

WDFW officials Sara LaBorde and Pat Frazier gave an update on the alternative gear project recently at a Longview meeting of the Coastal Conservation Association.

Last summer, the WDFW hired commercial fishermen to test one beach seine, one purse seine and a device called a Merwin trap.

Seines have a 3 1/2-inch mesh and fish can be examined while still in the water ..... http://www.thenewstribune.com/2010/07/03/1254080/seines-of-times-on-columbia.html