Siltcoos & Tahkenitch open for coho

[SalmonNilla]

I got this e-mail from odfw today.
Seems a bit late to me to open, but what do I know.
What kind of condition are they gonna be in?

For Immediate Release Tuesday, December 9, 2003

Wild coho season opens Thursday at Siltcoos and Tahkenitch lakes
Populations have recovered to allow season

SALEM - Siltcoos and Tahkenitch lakes north of Reedsport will open for
sport harvest of wild coho salmon Thursday, Dec. 11, through Wednesday,
Dec. 31, 2003, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and NOAA
Fisheries announced today. The agencies determined the local coho salmon
populations in these two lakes have recovered to healthy and stable
levels.

The limited fishery will be the first to target Oregon's wild coastal
coho salmon populations since 1993 and the first since they were listed
under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1998. The season provides
anglers and local communities the opportunity to benefit from coho
salmon recovery efforts implemented under the Oregon Plan for Salmon and
Watersheds for the past seven years. In addition, the fishery will not
slow the pace of salmon recovery elsewhere in Oregon.

"This small fishery is a success of the conservation efforts of
Oregonians," said Lindsay Ball, director of the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife. "A long term goal of the Oregon Plan is to provide
sustainable populations for fishing opportunities. As recovery of our
fishery resources progresses, other coastal coho populations will
support similar limited fisheries."

Good production of ocean food sources coupled with consistently healthy
coho populations in the two lakes resulted in more abundant returns than
necessary to sustain the populations, according to ODFW biologists. The
limited fishery will not undermine the productivity and recovery of coho
in these lakes.

The recent densities of spawning coho salmon in the Siltcoos and
Tahkenitch systems is among the highest currently documented in Oregon
and has exceeded the number needed to support long-term viable
populations for nine of the last 10 years. Siltcoos had 4,750 spawning
coho in 2002 and Tahkenitch had 3,490 spawning coho in 2002. About 3,300
and 2,200 spawning salmon are needed for Siltcoos and Tahkenitch lakes
respectively to maintain healthy future generations of coho salmon.

Starting Thursday, anglers may harvest one unmarked adult coho salmon
plus one unmarked jack coho per day from either Siltcoos or Tahkenitch
lakes. Anglers are limited to retaining five adult coho from both
Siltcoos and Tahkenitch lakes during the three-week season. Streams
flowing into the lakes, the outlet channel from the lakes to the ocean,
and the upper part of the inlets of major coho spawning streams are
closed to coho fishing.

Based on historical harvest in these lakes, biologists expect the
fishery to result in a combined harvest of up to 1,000 fish. This year's
quota has been set at 300 fish for Siltcoos Lake and 200 fish for
Tahkenitch Lake. Biologists expect harvest rates in this year's fishery
to be lower than these quotas due to the season's late start. In future
years, ODFW said seasons likely will be longer given adequate spawners
and good ocean conditions.

Biologists will monitor and evaluate the coho season along with coho
salmon spawning numbers to ensure that coho salmon recovery efforts are
not compromised. In future years, the coho run will be reevaluated to
determine if the run is strong enough to allow a harvest. The decision
to open the temporary fishery was based on a scientific review of the
coho salmon populations by both ODFW and NOAA Fisheries and input from
members of the public.

What do you all think about this?

[Salmonator]

I think I want to know what it was (besides closures, ocean conditions and possibly habitat) that contributed to this.

[Quasimodo the fish killer]

I have talked to the Biologist for that area and he said that they have done extensive spawning bed work and restoration on the creeks above both lakes and are now running into a problem with the early coho reds getting scoured out by the fall chinook and the mid season coho's scouring out the chinook and early coho reds then the late season coho scouring out all 3 of the others reds both lakes dump straight into the ocean with no bays so the smolts dont have many predators along their path to the ocean . the increased spawning areas have led to the opening of both lakes.

this is the same biologist thats responsible for the siuslaw broodstock program for winter steelies he seems to be a sharp guy when it comes to fish. the old biologist used to take the excess adult steelies and dump them in ponds around the area
when this guy,I cant recall his name, took over he stopped that practice and they now spawn the fish in buckets by hand and then put them back in the river to make another trip, instead of killing them or dumping them in a pond some where. I have caught hatchery winter steelies in the river up to 18 lbs. the biologist said that they get nearly a 50% return of the adults they release and that adds to the smolt release. my hat goes off to the guy he is one of a very few that works for odfw that uses comon sense instead of science to make decisions.

[BUGLEMAN]

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