BPA Pikeminnow program

[BentRod]

BPA pikeminnow program pays $1.2M to limit pest

A program to reduce the numbers of a salmon-eating pest called the northern pikeminnow paid $1.2 million to Northwest fishermen who assisted the effort this year.

The Associated Press

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PORTLAND, Ore. —

A program to reduce the numbers of a salmon-eating pest called the northern pikeminnow paid $1.2 million to Northwest fishermen who assisted the effort this year.

The Bonneville Power Administration funds the program, which earned one fisherman more than $81,000 during the six-month pikeminnow season.

The BPA said just over 173,000 pikeminnow were caught, helping to increase survival rates for young salmon and steelhead.

Fishermen get paid $4 to $8 for northern pikeminnow 9 inches and larger caught in the lower Columbia and Snake rivers. The more pikeminnow caught, the more the program pays. As an added incentive, specially tagged fish are worth $500.

The annual program opened May 1 and was originally scheduled to close Sept. 30 but was extended 10 days this year.

[Anonymous]

Maybe I should go try that next summer. Hmmmm:pirat:

[Jay K]

As an added incentive, specially tagged fish are worth $500.

This is inane. So they catch a pikeminnow, tag it, then throw it back, so somebody can collect a $500 bounty? Possibly?

That $500 (if pikeminnow are $4-8 per head) could have meant another 60-120 individual pikeminnow bounties (ie: dead pikeminnow). And that's just ONE of the $500 bounties. Dumba$$es... Thanks for another example of mismanaging my tax dollars. It ain't a casino - it's a pikeminnow bounty. Isn't the goal to rid the river of as many pikeminnow as possible?

[mallard83]

The Columbia ain't the only river with a huge SQUAWFISH problem. I wish the WDFW would open up thier eyes and see this. There are plenty of puget sound rivers that I could make a living off of these fish.=d>

[Matt]

As an added incentive, specially tagged fish are worth $500.

This is inane. So they catch a pikeminnow, tag it, then throw it back, so somebody can collect a $500 bounty? Possibly?

That $500 (if pikeminnow are $4-8 per head) could have meant another 60-120 individual pikeminnow bounties (ie: dead pikeminnow). And that's just ONE of the $500 bounties. Dumba$$es... Thanks for another example of mismanaging my tax dollars. It ain't a casino - it's a pikeminnow bounty. Isn't the goal to rid the river of as many pikeminnow as possible?

Actually the tagging program is part of a biological survey to determine the migratory patterns and life history of specific the species. The tags are not a "random raffle" to shell out 500$, but the 500$ is an incentive to get fisherman to return the tags so they can be used for much needed research. The more they learn about the species OVERALL the easier they will be to manage from a biological standpoint. If they knew more about the species and how to control them they wouldn't need to catch and kill program at all.

['OL GREY DOG]

YEA.....but Jay got to vent

[Jay K]

YEA.....but Jay got to vent

Thanks for the info, Matt. I still think $500 is too high a bounty.

[scott080379]

I think I found my new job for when I get out of the Navy in March..........

[Amx]

I think I found my new job for when I get out of the Navy in March..........

Yup, March would be a great time to start fishing. Wish I lived closer to the river.

[BARCHASER10]

I remember reading this somewhere, googled it and the top earner made $57,772. Not bad!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/r ... y_rai.html

[sellis_414]

I remember reading this somewhere, googled it and the top earner made $57,772. Not bad!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/r ... y_rai.html

Ya but could you imagine catching nearly 10000 fish? I'd get to the point where I most likely wouldn't like fishing anymore!

[kevinb]

No tax dollars are used on this program,its operated by the Bonneville Power Administration.

[mallard83]

Here's a link with info and a vid.

http://www.pikeminnow.org/info.html

[muskyhunter]

Hi Mallard,
Just wondering..do you just not like this program? Its been going on for almost 14 years. My wife and I saw the booth at the Sportsmans Show back in 1999. I think its a great program for folks to participate in. It gets you on the water with your wife & kids or fishing buddies and gives you a chance to earn a little cash while your out there. Or supplemental income for those who are broke...$57,000 is a pretty good supplement to anyone's' income for 6 months of fishing..hell $20 bucks for the gas would be great too.. Plus you're helping the Salmon/Steelhead fishery which brings in a hell of a lot more money into both states' local economy.
I understand there are other rivers and lakes that could use a similar program. Like Mayfield Lake for instance and many of the rivers in Washington. But none- the- less- the BPA sponsors and doles out the cash for the program. The WDFW and Oregon Fish and Wildlife are working side by side with the B.P.A. to get the information they need to help keep control of the pikie-minnows. The only thing that the WDFW does is man the check points, hand out the registration forms and collect the fish..maybe get ahold of the BPA yourself and see if they could help your favorite river or lake?
You may be the only one guy that is against this program but it looks like a lot of people in Washington and Oregon really dig it. So I dont know sir you may be up against the majority on this one...
If you watch the video (you posted) it clearly shows and explains the program. Maybe we should get together this spring or summer and give it a try..I definatley could use an extra couple of bucks in my wallet for some more gear..Take it easy...Todd

[mallard83]

Hi Mallard,
Just wondering..do you just not like this program? Its been going on for almost 14 years. My wife and I saw the booth at the Sportsmans Show back in 1999. I think its a great program for folks to participate in. It gets you on the water with your wife & kids or fishing buddies and gives you a chance to earn a little cash while your out there. Or supplemental income for those who are broke...$57,000 is a pretty good supplement to anyone's' income for 6 months of fishing..hell $20 bucks for the gas would be great too.. Plus you're helping the Salmon/Steelhead fishery which brings in a hell of a lot more money into both states' local economy.
I understand there are other rivers and lakes that could use a similar program. Like Mayfield Lake for instance and many of the rivers in Washington. But none- the- less- the BPA sponsors and doles out the cash for the program. The WDFW and Oregon Fish and Wildlife are working side by side with the B.P.A. to get the information they need to help keep control of the pikie-minnows. The only thing that the WDFW does is man the check points, hand out the registration forms and collect the fish..maybe get ahold of the BPA yourself and see if they could help your favorite river or lake?
You may be the only one guy that is against this program but it looks like a lot of people in Washington and Oregon really dig it. So I dont know sir you may be up against the majority on this one...
If you watch the video (you posted) it clearly shows and explains the program. Maybe we should get together this spring or summer and give it a try..I definatley could use an extra couple of bucks in my wallet for some more gear..Take it easy...Todd

I don't know where I gave the impression that I don't support this program. All I was getting at was that the state could look other places. I know the Bonneville Power Administration is funding this program, BUT the info and the pressure is put on them by the WDFW. In order to keep the dams the power companies need to appease the WDFW and the public in certain ways. This includes protection of native migratory fish. All I was saying was that there are other rivers that have problems too. If you don't believe that I am for the irradication of SQUAWFISH just look at these pics from a non-Columbia trib.

1st pic= 70 dead Squaw

2nd pic= 46 dead Squaw

P.S. My online name for PS3 is SquawSlayer so I am pretty sure I hate Squaw fish.

[Jay K]

Fish fry at Mallard's.

[mallard83]

Fish fry at Mallard's.

Sick!:-& HA! HA!

[Amx]

Fish fry at Mallard's.

Sick!:-& HA! HA!

Ya, it's bad enough that we have to TOUCH those things.

[Stacie Kelsey]

I started on the reward program back in 1990 when it was first implemented. I oversaw the upper river check stations. This is when ODFW had the program. In 1991, it was turned over to WDFW and my job switched to monitoring the tribal dam angling on the four lower Columbia River dams.

We realize the squawfish are everywhere, however, because of the dams and interference with junveile outmigration and general salmon passage, it created a monster of a feeding ground for squawfish.

When I first started in '90 we tags hundreds and hundreds of fish and threw them back in order to get data on them. We also sampled several hundred more getting biological data. Kind of nice fishing off the tailrace of McNary Dam with a fishing pole equipped with an electic reel!

We have not looked into bounty programs outside the Columbia River. They are enormously high priced. So we have tried to look into other alternatives. In Merwin and Mayfield we have stocked tigers. But, it's important to remember that tigers are opportunistic. They don't have a squawfish-centric diet. They'll eat whatever is in their range.

[cudaman]

yes but tigers do put a dent into there populatoin and it should noted that the kokenee fishing has been awesome ever since tigers were introduced