http://www.cbbulletin.com/408458.aspx



Ramping up bigtime, 1,000,000 pounds is alot of shad.

So what will the fish be used for? One has to wonder if they might be utiilized for fish food base for hatcheries or livestock feeds and not have to be chasing herring, sardines, etc in the ocean.

Food fish for the asian market is my guess.

Sure would be nice to figure some use for them here. Fish food, chicken feed, etc rather than shipping them overseas

One more fun fishery about to hit the shitter. We be quick learners.

I have always thought the shad was a good food base for the upper river sturgeon, so this concerns me. So I guess now we will get to find out how long it takes to remove them from the Columbia. Won't be to long now before we hear about all the smelt in the lower columbia and lots of folks wanting to jump on them also. Hope they try to manage shad in some manner as it sounds like they are going to fish them all the way up the big c, and try to retain a breeding population.

+ 1000

Once they are down to a remnant population we will continue to do test fisheries to confirm that another one bit the dust!


If we MUST do this, let's charge the commies a BIG fee that we can use to fund studies to see how the shad fit in the overall scheme of things. If we charge enough we can proove the shad are vital just before they go extinct.

BTW arent the numbers way down anyway?

American Shad: Non-Native To Columbia Basin, Runs Exceed One Million Fish, Peaking At 6.5 Million
Posted on Friday, May 13, 2011 (PST)

American shad are not native to the Columbia River basin, but they have largely flourished since being introduced to the West Coast from Pennsylvania in the late 19th century.



The East coast natives have become a relatively popular sport fishery in the Columbia and have been the focus of varying levels of commercial effort over the years. The American shad is the largest member of the herring family. Their average adult size in the Columbia is from 17 to 19 inches and three to four pounds.



Since the extensive development of mainstem hydroelectric projects, shad runs have increased markedly in abundance and have extended their range into the upper Columbia River and into Hells Canyon of the Snake River, according to a joint ODFW-WDFW staff report. Since the late 1970s, all shad runs have exceeded one million fish per year, with a peak of 6.5 million in 2005. Shad run timing extends from mid-May through early August at Bonneville Dam, with peak daily counts occurring in June.



The number of shad has, however, declined each year since that 2005 peak. The 2010 minimum shad run size was 1.3 million, with a minimum spawning escapement exceeding 1.2 million upstream of The Dalles Dam, plus an unknown number of spawners downstream of The Dalles Dam and downstream of Willamette Falls.



The 2010 shad run in the Columbia River was the lowest since 1982.



It is possible that the rapid growth shad population resulted in the “amplification” of the presence of Ichthyophonus, a parasite of wild marine fishes, in the Columbia basin. Researchers believe the Ichthyophonus is endemic to the Pacific Ocean, where shad spend three to four years of their life before returning to freshwater to spawn.



“An Ichthyophonus epizootic occurred among American shad in the Columbia River during 2007, when infection prevalence was 72 percent, and 57 percent of the infections were scored as moderate or heavy intensities,” according to “Amplification and transport of an endemic fish disease by an introduced species, “a research paper published in the April 17 edition of “Biological invasions. Lead author is Paul Hershberger of the U.S. Geologic Survey’s Western Fisheries Research Center. An epizootic is a disease that appears as new cases in a given animal population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is "expected."



“Therefore it is possible that mortality among infected adult shad occurred after completion of spawning and prior to re-entry into the seawater,” the research report says. “However, it should be cautioned that demonstration of any causal relationships between the ichthyophoniasis epizootic and population-level impacts to American shad require further investigation….”



“There appears to be a coastwide decline in American shad,” said USGS researcher Mike Parsley. Shad, originally introduced in the Sacramento River, are now found from southern California to Kodiak Island, Alaska



“We could see shad rebound,” Parsley said, if the disease relents.

Keep in mind these shad are an exotics (an east coast transplant). The billions of juvenile shad in up river resevoirs feeding on the same zooplankton that are the backbone to the food chain for
juvenile salmon and other game fish.

Tight lines
Curt

All true, but I'm sure you know there is a growing school of thought that not all exotics are harmful. I know the walleye eat the hell out of shad fry and that sturgeon eat the adults, although I would guess only the dead ones they find. My point is we should know all we can about their place in the system BEFORE we start a huge harvest program.

"Possible gear includes purse seines, beach seines, and/or a fish wheel. Dick said expects as many as five Yakama crews to seek permits for such test fisheries in reservoirs upstream of Bonneville Dam."




Hey look at the bright side one of the four treaty tribes is looking at alternative fishing gear. Tribes don't even need to go through legislature to get it legalized, exciting times ahead. Toot Toot Clickty Clack

I'm not at all sure about the general condemnation of "exotics", either.
Let's see, they were introduced in the Sacramento River and now extend as far North as Kodiak. They go to sea and obviously return to an ever-expanding spawning habitat.

as far as "largest member of herring family" goes......I thought Tarpon was

BB, those Jumbo Oily Herring when frozen are the very best Crab Bait you can use. But then again, Crabbing Remains a mystery to me

I've never been a fan of invasive species.

Can we PLEASE open up some smallmouth commercial fisheries?

I'm a little confused what this fishery has to do with treaty tribes.

American Shad are a non-native species to Washington and Oregon as are largemouth, smallmouth, walleye, crappie, bluegill and yellow perch.

I certainly understand tribal fishermen and non-tribal commercial fishermen wanting to be able to develop a commercial fishery for shad for their economic benefit.

If developing a fishery no matter what type of gear is used results in more netting effort on the Columbia, I question the wisdom of it.

That was my first thought when I first saw this thread.


Adding more netting activity on the C is a weird concept but if it helps to develop selective harvest methods......well, still can't bless it.

DD
Who is typing this on the banks of the Connecticut River in South Hadley, MA.
These are big shad....the record came from this location.....11lbs-4oz in '86
That's a big herring.

I used to see these fish coming up the Connecticut River in V formation while I was out there in my canoe. Too bad I didn't fish then.

Shad are defined as a food fish. The current WAC's covering the fishery are posted below. The fishery below Bonneville last saw the WAC updated in 2010. The fishery above Bonneville was last done in 1977. I hope the Dept. has taken a look at whether or not the WACs need to be updated.......



http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=220-33

WAC 220-33-030

Agency filings affecting this section




Shad.

It is unlawful to fish for shad in the lower Columbia River for commercial purposes, or to possess shad taken from those waters for commercial purposes, except as provided in this section:


Gear


(1) Gill net gear may be used to fish for shad if:

(a) The cork line of the gill net does not exceed 900 feet in length (150 fathoms) and has sufficient buoyancy to float the cork line on the surface. Also, the net may not exceed 40 meshes in depth.

(b) The webbing of the gill net is constructed of mesh having a breaking strength of less than 10 pounds. The gill net may be constructed of monofilament webbing or twine.

(c) The mesh size of the gill net is not less than 5-3/8 inches or more than 6-1/4 inches stretch measure.

(d) The gill net does not have more than a single web. The gill net web shall be suspended between a single cork line and a single lead line.

(e) The gill net does not have added lines, strings, backwalls, trammels, or aprons. Riplines may be used but may not be less than 10 fathoms (60 feet) apart.


Fishing periods


(2) The lower Columbia River is open to commercial shad fishing in Shad Area 2S from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily, Monday through Friday (except on the observed Memorial Day holiday), from May 10 through June 20 annually. Shad taken incidentally during an open commercial salmon or sturgeon fishing period may be retained for commercial purposes.


General


(3) As used in this chapter and in emergency rules of the director, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:

(a) "Shad Area 2S" means those waters of Salmon Management and Catch Reporting Area (SMCRA) 1D and 1E that are upstream of a line projected true north and south from the Oregon shore through the Washougal blinker light (light "50" flashing red) to a fishing boundary marker on the Washington shore (upper boundary of SMCRA 1E).

(b) "Camas-Washougal Reef Area" means those waters of SMCRA 1D inside of a line commencing at the white six-second equal-interval light approximately 3/4 mile east of the Washougal Woolen Mill pipeline and projected westerly to the Washougal blinker light, thence to the white four-second blinker light on the east end of Lady Island, thence easterly and along the shoreline of Lady Island to the State Highway 14 Bridge, thence easterly and along the shoreline of Lady Island to the State Highway 14 Bridge, thence easterly across the State Highway 14 Bridge to the mainland.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 77.04.020, 77.12.045, and 77.12.047. 10-07-065 (Order 10-34), § 220-33-030, filed 3/15/10, effective 4/15/10. Statutory Authority: RCW 75.08.080. 88-18-066 (Order 88-86), § 220-33-030, filed 9/2/88.]

http://apps.leg.wa.gov/wac/default.aspx?cite=220-32


WAC 220-32-056

No agency filings affecting this section since 2003




Season and gear — Shad.

It shall be lawful to take, fish for and possess shad taken for commercial purposes in Columbia River Salmon Management and Catch Reporting Areas 1F, 1G, and 1H with single-wall floater gill net and set net gear containing mesh of a size not less than 5-3/8 inches or larger than 6-1/4 inches stretch measure and said mesh webbing shall be of a breaking strength not greater than a 10-pound pull from 12 noon July 4 to 12 noon July 11. It shall be unlawful to sell any salmon taken during this lawful shad fishery.



[Order 77-14, § 220-32-056, filed 4/15/77; Order 76-26, § 220-32-056, filed 1:45 p.m., 4/20/76; Order 915, § 220-32-056, filed 3/4/71.]

Hmmm.....

this could get interesting.