http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/re...umbia_rive.html

There used to be a time when millions of Pacific smelt would flood the waters of the Lower Columbia River, and head to many tributaries like the Cowlitz and Sandy rivers, while hordes of sport dip-netters and tribal fishermen would line the shores to catch them by the bucket loads. Commercial catches in the 1990s totaled millions of pounds, and stayed relatively high through the early 2000s.

http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20101130/BLOG36/101139988

Oregon and Washington fish managers voted Tuesday to keep closed, under permanent rules, the Columbia River commercial smelt fishery scheduled to open Dec. 1. Recreational smelt fishing in Washington was already closed and unlikely to reopen because of federal ESA listing of Columbia River eulachon as “endangered” in May of this year.