Spokane Tribe to kill walleye on Spokane River during general spring closure

[bearpaw]

How many of you fished Roosevelt pre-walleye and pre-netpen, much of the lake was little more than a scap fish pit? Only certain areas at certain times were good fishing.

I would hate to see those days come back and they probably won't, because I don't see how they can completely rid roosevelt of walleye. But the net-pens do provide a huge fishery that will not be there without the netpens.

I read a study once that showed some sturgeon were breeding in Roosevelt's northern reaches. If we could reestablish a good population of big fish, I think they might breed again. Once breeding stock is established again, sturgeon might do their own breeding. Over fishing and poaching of big fish cleaned the big sturgeon out of Roosevelt and the WDFW did not act soon enough to save the fishery. I'm not blaming anyone, I'm just stating what happened, nobody saw the end coming, it seems everyone thought it was a never ending fishery of big fish.

I am wondering why sturgeon and other native fish cannot be raised in hatcheries and netpens to a size that would survive predation before being released? Could that be a more effective way and less costly way to put sturgeon and native species of trout back in Roosevelt?

[YJ Guide Service]

Hillbilly didnt see where I stated they were native? I said they were classified as a Game fish and not a invasive species. Weve fished Lake Roosevelt since 1984. I agree bearpaw why cant they raise these fish till at age they would have a chance at survival in the lake.

I cant see how a bounty can be put on a game fish in this state, their not a invasive species. There has to be WAC that prohibits that. I also feel like i am being discriminated against as a non tribal fisherman. How can WDFW allow this on the Spokane river. I wonder what the agreement is between the state and the tribe? The Tribe doesn't own the fish or the water. I think its unfair to everyone that pays for a fishing license. I know its the same thing that happens on the coast with Salmon.  I think they need to make it fair to everyone that fish's the arm is all. I think people wouldn't be as upset if it was a equal opportunity thing and not just one group getting to fish it and making money to do it. Just my opinion.

Walleye are not native to WA... http://wdfw.wa.gov/fishing/walleye/

[Curly]

I don't think I fished Roosevelt when I was a kid (maybe I'll have to ask my Dad) but I do remember fishing Banks a lot and going to Grand Coulee dam for a tour and watching fireworks on the 4th.  This was back in the 70's. 

My dad was really into kokanee fishing back then.  I'm sure we would have fished Roosevelt if it was any good back then and I do think I'd remember if we did fish it and did well.  So either we did fish it and didn't catch anything or we never fished it.......... ??

I did fish it in the mid 90's a few times for bass tournaments and a few times just for fun out with my wife.  The lake has become a great fishery for smallmouth and walleye.  I know its good for rainbows too, I just haven't targeted them.

I do hope they have success with Sturgeon and kokanee, but I don't think killing spawning walleye is the answer. 

[Ripper]

I read an article last year where the Native Americans were raising sturgeon in a hatchery and releasing them in the Tri-cities area I believe. What a great thing to do. I think they were raising them to 24 inches before releasing them. I would like to see something like that happen in Lake Roosevelt. Hell why not every pool on the Columbia. I would contribute money to that cause. I don't think there is a walleye that swims that could eat a 24" sturgeon.

Here's the link: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/04/29/1469882/recovery-begins-for-white-sturgeon.html

[bearpaw]

I read an article last year where the Native Americans were raising sturgeon in a hatchery and releasing them in the Tri-cities area I believe. What a great thing to do. I think they were raising them to 24 inches before releasing them. I would like to see something like that happen in Lake Roosevelt. Hell why not every pool on the Columbia. I would contribute money to that cause. I don't think there is a walleye that swims that could eat a 24" sturgeon.

Here's the link: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/04/29/1469882/recovery-begins-for-white-sturgeon.html

Great info, I will check out that link when I get time, that sounds like a good direction to go with this issue....

[bearpaw]

I read an article last year where the Native Americans were raising sturgeon in a hatchery and releasing them in the Tri-cities area I believe. What a great thing to do. I think they were raising them to 24 inches before releasing them. I would like to see something like that happen in Lake Roosevelt. Hell why not every pool on the Columbia. I would contribute money to that cause. I don't think there is a walleye that swims that could eat a 24" sturgeon.

Here's the link: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/2011/04/29/1469882/recovery-begins-for-white-sturgeon.html

Great info, I will check out that link when I get time, that sounds like a good direction to go with this issue....

I had to look at it...

I want to thank the Yakima Tribe for doing that project. This something that would be very nice to expand upon.

[Ripper]

Absolutely Bearpaw. Many are quick to judge and place blame on the Native Americans, so it's also important to get positive info out there for all to see. This is a great project and like you, I'd like to see it expanded. Coming from the Midwest, growing up on Lake Michigan, I've seen the success of the hatchery programs. It baffles me that we can't or wont do the same thing here. Until all the nets are removed everywhere, all the dams removed and all spawning habitat restored, we are never going to see native stocks returned to historical levels. It's time to wake up and embrace the hatcheries.

[bearpaw]

We wouldn't have half the lake fishing in WA if it wasn't for state hatcheries. I would like to see the tribes pursue more hatcheries for native fish species.

WDFW is all messed up, they are cutting back on hatcheries when they need to increase revenue. 

This sturgeon project sounds like a perfect example of what the tribes can do. Imagine if they were putting 1000 or 2000 sturgeon 24 inches long into Roosevelt every year.

Maybe some native rainbow, cutthroat, and bull trout, and some type of small native fish to feed everything. Like was said, this could happen in all the reservoirs.

[bearpaw]

Do you think there is any chance of this program expanding into the upper river and Roosevelt?

[woodywsu]

If you read the article, it is not just the tribes. Several agencies were involved with this fish release. Mid-C PUD's help fund and catch the broodstock for these releases along with other agencies. Last year, a spawning female and male were removed from the Wanapum Pool and transported to a hatchery by PUD staff. 95,000 eggs were hatched and they were both returned to the river. Those 95,000 juveniles were divided amongst agencies and will be released back in the various pools along the Columbia. That is two consecutive releases throughout the Columbia. Broodstock collection efforts will contine annually.

[bearpaw]

If you read the article, it is not just the tribes. Several agencies were involved with this fish release. Mid-C PUD's help fund and catch the broodstock for these releases along with other agencies. Last year, a spawning female and male were removed from the Wanapum Pool and transported to a hatchery by PUD staff. 95,000 eggs were hatched and they were both returned to the river. Those 95,000 juveniles were divided amongst agencies and will be released back in the various pools along the Columbia. That is two consecutive releases throughout the Columbia. Broodstock collection efforts will contine annually.

That's great news....

Any idea what Roosevelt got?

[buckcanyonlodge]

Do you think there is any chance of this program expanding into the upper river and Roosevelt?

They announced a release of juvenile sturgeon in upper Lake Roosevelt area a couple years ago. I think they released about 500 if my memory is correct.

[bearpaw]

If that will happen every year, we could get a season back in the future.... 

[PlateauNDN]

Here was the first article in the Yakima Herald Republic.

http://www.yakima-herald.com/stories/2011/03/21/fish-biologist-helps-yakamas-create-first-sturgeon-recovery-program

Fish biologist helps Yakamas create first sturgeon recovery program
 by Phil Ferolito
Yakima Herald-Republic

HARRAH, Wash. -- Nearly two years ago, Donella Miller began a project south of town to bolster the survival of an ancient friend -- the sturgeon.
 
For decades, the Yakama Nation focused its efforts on restoring salmon in the Columbia River basin. But now, the tribe is looking to Miller to help the prehistoric fish that has been all but forgotten.
 
Working off a shoestring budget, she acquired holding ponds, filters, plumbing supplies and surplus hatchery equipment to create the tribe's first sturgeon recovery program on 15 acres of Yakama Nation land along Marion Drain.
 
When power was extended to the site in January, Miller, who works for the tribe's fisheries department, was more than ready.
 
"We actually had our first fish before we even had power," she quipped.
 
"Sturgeon have kind of taken the back burner to salmon all these years," said 36-year-old Miller. "There hasn't been much restoration efforts. I think if it weren't for the extended life cycle of them -- they can live a hundred years -- they'd be extinct on the Columbia River."
 
Next month, her efforts will come full circle when she releases her first sturgeon -- actually a few thousand -- into the Priest Rapids, Wanapum and Rocky Reach reservoirs of the Columbia River.
 
"I'm getting excited. We're going to have our first release," she said. "We're going to be doing monitoring, tracking."
 
About 40,000 sturgeon at a time can be raised at the hatchery, and the plan is to release them into various areas throughout the mid-Columbia River. As the program grows, there will be releases in lower sections of the river as well, she said.
 
 
 
Because of their cultural importance to the Yakamas, improving the sturgeon population in the basin is an important step, said Yakama Tribal Councilman Gerry Lewis.
 
"Sturgeon have been a staple (in Yakama culture and diet) just like salmon," he said. "It's important to bring back the sturgeon."
 
Tribal leaders praise Miller's initiative in building a hatchery mostly from scraps on idle land backed by the Toppenish Ridge. Her project has also caught the attention of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, a federal body that represents the fishing interests of the four river tribes -- Yakama, Umatailla, Nez Perce and Warm Springs.
 
Last week, members of the four tribes and the fish commission -- 35 people in all-- toured the makeshift hatchery.
 
Miller, a Yakama, showed them a dozen above-ground pools that dot the gravel-covered area. A manufactured building holds an office. Sturgeon, some already 3 feet long, fill the 4-foot swimming pools.
 
Miller's interest in fish restoration grew out of her experience in commercial fishing with her family on the Columbia River.
 
Like salmon, sturgeon are migratory fish, hatching in rivers and living in the ocean before returning to spawn. But unlike salmon, they live through many spawning cycles.
 
But when the dams went up on the Columbia and Snake rivers, sturgeon were trapped. As bottom feeders, they don't access the fish ladders like salmon. As a result, they don't reproduce like they used to, said Steve Parker, technical service coordinator for the Yakama fisheries program.
 
Using hatchery fish to bolster populations will eventually lead to more sturgeon for both tribal and nontribal fisherman, Miller said.
 
But first, sturgeon populations need to be sustainable, she said.
 
"So that they will be here for future generations," she said. "At the same time, we have a responsibility."
 
The tribe has long been interested in sturgeon restoration so Miller came along at the right time, Parker said.
 
Her focus on sturgeon began at the University of Idaho, where she earned a degree in fisheries resources.
 
After graduating in 2008, her tribe gave her the use of a travel trailer so she could visit other tribes and their sturgeon restoration efforts throughout the Columbia River and Snake River basins.
 
"It was interesting -- I was just absorbing all the information I could," she said. "I was learning all the little tricks that they had to get (sturgeon) to spawn, all the little tricks to get them to feed."
 
Female sturgeons are put on stretchers and massaged to help them drop their eggs into a tank, Miller explained.
 
The eggs are washed with a clay mixture, which removes a sticky membrane from the shells. Then they are put in incubating jars, where they hatch about a week later.
 
There is no formulated sturgeon feed, so getting them to eat in a hatchery can be tricky, she said. They are fed every few hours, and tanks are frequently cleaned so feed stays fresh.
 
"Kind of like you would treat a baby," she said. "They have to eat every couple of hours -- (sturgeon) are the same way."
 
Parker says Miller could fill an encyclopedia with her knowledge of sturgeon.
 
"Every job she did, it just stuck in her head," he said. "I'm really proud of her, of just how creative and relentless she's been with the program."

[YJ Guide Service]

Great info on the Sturgeon....