For about the past 10,000 years, Indian tribe members have taken big nets to the Columbia River where the water runs fast and used the nets to scoop out salmon.

When the industrialized Europeans came in the mid-1800s, they knew a good idea when they saw it. The Indians caught so much salmon, so quickly, that some enterprising Europeans quickly realized they could make a killing scooping out fish, canning them and selling them cheap. But not being inclined to stand around on fishing platforms as the sun beat down on them, they mechanized the method.

Thus the fish wheel came to the Columbia. It’s sort of like a paddlewheel with baskets on the ends, with a wooden flume built downstream to divert a big cross-section of the migrating fish into its path. The current turned the wheel, the baskets scooped out all the fish that are carried through the flume, and the cannery built nearby processed them into little flat tins.

To give you an idea of how many fish these things scooped out of the river: One built in 1887 about five miles from The Dalles pulled 418,000 pounds of fish out of the river in 1906 alone. By that time, there were more than 75 others like it lining the shores of the river where it ran fast.

Not surprisingly, the operators started noticing the catches dwindling as the 1900s wore on. But their response was to blame the gillnetters — the boat operators on the lower Columbia who were also hauling out tons of fish.

The two groups — fish wheel operators and gillnetters — sponsored competing ballot measures ... Continued@URL... http://www.democratherald.com/articles/2008/11/16/news/local/1loc12_finn.txt

Sounds like a great tool to re-introduce to the Commercial Fishing Industry on the Columbia River. It can SELECTIVELY HARVEST hatchery Salmon and Steelhead and get the NON-SELECTIVE GILL NETS off the river. Why is this not being discussed as an alternative.

This has been raised from time to time - I guess it just makes too much sense to implement.

Unfortunately the locations where fish wheels work - fast slots near the shoreline - have been inundated by the reservoirs upstream of the dams. Fish wheels are very location specific. You can't put one just anywhere and have it fish successfully. However, fish traps are highly effective fishing gear and offer the option of selectively harvesting certain fish while others are released.

Sg

The problem with fish wheels is that they only work in certain areas, and require a high concentration of fish. Those areas for the most part don't exist on the Columbia anymore (underwater), and the numbers of fish aren't there to make them very useful.

Fish traps would be better, they can cover more ground and fish a wider array of conditions.

Fish on...

Todd

I see Salmo already said most of what I said in my last post...

We already have by far the most efficient and useful fish trap ever built on the Columbia River. It's already paid for, it works like a charm, and could be 100% selective. It would remove virtually all hatchery fish from the river, and could release everything from the smallest jack to the largest ESA listed spring Chinook, and everything in between.

It's called the fish ladder at Bonneville Dam.

Fish on...

Todd

You wouldn't have remove ALL the fish, Aunty.

There's still a quota. X fish is X fish. If there is not a quota, one can easily be made. One can also and easily manage how many fish are taken and when. IE, if the runs don't meet for the expected forecast, don't take all the fish at once. Spread it out over time and if the numbers do add up, STOP taking fish out of the ladder.

Instead of killing the X fish in a gillnet + the Y ESA fish and the Z other fish, the harvesters just take their marked X fish and call it good.

Of course, I don't think there's a commercial or tribal person out there willing to just show up with a tote to collect their permitted fish. There's something about the "killing a fish" factor that everyone seems to like.

Clip the Iderho fish differently.

"Those areas for the most part don't exist on the Columbia anymore"

They do at the dams, just sort the fish as they are counted, give everyone thier allocation by zero by catch. Do it low enough (Bonni) in the system and the fish will be brighter, less stressed, and have a higher fat content. The corps could even save some money by pulling out some Squawfish.

If people really wanted to work on maximizing the returns only bucks could be selected to allow a higher return of hens. I theory more wild fish smolting after time we may have something.

The first factor would be only removing your quota...the rest would be passed along to be harvested somewhere else. Terminal fisheries are always going to be better than mixed stock fisheries if you don't have a truly selective fishing method.

It's no different than any other fishery in the LCR, only you don't kill any, or many wild fish while you do it. It's up to the next fishery upstream to limit their impacts, and fish traps or purse seines, or terminal fisheries where there are no wild fish, are the ways to do that.

Fish on...

Todd

Re: Dams = Fish Traps

You don't have to think about this for very long before you realize that there would be absolutely no need for a commercial fleet in the Columbia - The public still get their fish, which seems to be the battle cry for keeping the non-tribal commercials going. Tribes could have a cerimonial fishery, but why waste the gas if you just pick them up at your usual and accustomed dam.

All wild fish get a chance to reach the spawning grounds. Complete control over how many hatchery fish go upstream.

Like I said, it makes too much sense to implement.

Aunty M is that you workin it with the hotrod in your avatar?

Couldn't they stage the harvest to accomodate that to some degree? I don't see anything much worse with this than the current apporoach - Either way they potentially still over harvest the weak returnng runs and screw the potato farmers' fishing up.

I agree that harvesting at the tribs would be a better solution, but how many tribs have a dam with a fish way to use as a trap? I guess it would be a better use of BPA recovery dollars to build a trap at a few of the tribs than blow it all on hatcheries and tribal buy-offs.

Temporary weirs could be built on the tribs like on the Kalama. They also have done a lot of that in AK. for their river population data. The weir is easily removed during the high water season to prevent damage. As far as commercials and Native's showing up with totes to collect their allocation, isn't that a better option than not getting any at all?

Aunty,

It would still be possible to have the hatchery fish harvests occur at Bonneville and John Day or McNary (lots of sampling equipment there) for commercial purposes. The harvest rate can be continuously adjusted in season to make up for errors in the pre-season forecast. The worst case scenario is that "too many" hatchery fish would return to upriver tributaries on the Snake and mid-C. Then Idaho simply extends its seasons to try to finish the harvest. Same with mid-C harvest.

As Milt Roe mentioned, it makes way too much sense to ever be adopted. I started pushing the idea a decade ago, and it isn't any more popular now than it was then.

Sg

The argument you will get regarding terminal trib trapping is that the quality of the commodity will be sub-par.

Isn't that the a big part of the rationalization that fuels mixed stock harvest in open ocean/pre-terminal fisheries... a higher quality product to sell to the masses?

Several questions here, what is going to happen to the bankie, jet sledder or drift boat fishermen. Whats going to make it upriver to us? Guides, sleds, drift boats are gone, and we all have to buy salt boats.........Good thing our river boats are mostly made of aluminum, at least we can sell them for scrap. Can anyone show me where river fishermen will be able to continue fishing?

I have to agree with the some of the others that removing the desired fish for harvest at fish ladders/traps is a very efficient way harvest fish while being extremely selective on what is harvested with minimal impacts on the wild fish to be released.

The question quickly becomes why not limit all harvest (including the recreational fishing) to those locations as well. Those that want a fish can campout at the "fishing site" and stand in line to recieve their fish as they are captured. Not ony would the harvest be done selectively it would be easy to assure the equilable distribution of the "harvest" to all the "users".

With complete selectively harvest, minimal impacts on the listed wild fish, and equitably distribution of the catch what is the down side of that sort of approach?

Tight lines
Curt

Smalma, I don't think the merchants that sell stuff to the sports fishermen would like your idea ;^)