Washington Cancels Upper Columbia Sockeye Season After Weak Returns

Washington salmon anglers just got the kind of news nobody wants, but the reason matters. WDFW has canceled the Upper Columbia sockeye season for now after early return data came in far below the preseason forecast.

Managers had been working from a preseason forecast of 275,000 adult sockeye returning to Bonneville Dam. Current run-size information now has fishery managers projecting less than half of that. When the fish are not showing up in harvestable numbers, the agency has to make the call before the run gets hammered past the point of no return.

WDFW says the closure is a precautionary in-season adjustment meant to line up fishing opportunity with actual return data. The agency has not ruled out a season later this summer if the run improves, with any added opportunity most likely above the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco if numbers support it.

That does not make it easy on anglers who planned trips, bought gear, and count on those summer fish. But conservation is not only something we brag about when limits are good. Sometimes it means backing off so enough salmon make it upriver to spawn and keep the future season alive.

The honest truth is that regulated fishing only works when managers respond to real numbers instead of wishful thinking. If the sockeye rebound, open the opportunity where it makes sense. If they do not, let the fish through and protect the run. That is how you keep a fishery from becoming just another story about how good it used to be.