This isn’t necessarily pertinent to Southwest Washington now, but remember water — and fish — flow downstream.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife and Kalispel Tribe of Indians are having a pair of public meetings next week in Newport and Spokane to discuss northern pike in the Pend Oreille River.
Surveys have documented a rapid increase in northern pike in the Pend Oreille River and a reduction in native minnows, whitefish and suckers, as well as largemouth bass.
Options under consideration by the state and tribe to control pike on the Pend Oreille River include netting fish and donating them to local food banks, sport-reward fisheries, and fishing tournaments targeting pike, according to Bill Baker, a state fish biologist in Colville.
The Pend Oreille River’s northern pike are believed to have originated from illegal stocking in the Clark Fork River system in western Montana.
The fish migrated downstream to Lake Pend Oreille, then into the Pend Oreille River in Idaho and Washington.
“Native salmon, steelhead and other species also could be at risk if pike migrate downstream and establish populations in the Columbia River,” Baker said. “We’re also concerned about northern pike populations establishing in other Washington waters.”
Ever wonder how walleyes, another non-native, got here?
Bruce Bolding, warmwater program manager for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, said walleyes showed up in Banks Lake about 1960, probably via a “bucket biologist.”
From Banks Lake they most likely spread into the Columbia River irrigation system and now are downstream to the Vancouver area, Bolding said.
Playing Rambo
State fisheries patrol officers are running on the Columbia River at night without navigation lights and pose a threat to marine traffic, a veteran gillnetter says.
“I want to know what the position is for enforcement running around in the middle of the night with no lights and playing Rambo,” said Bruce Crookshanks of Rochester in Lewis County. “I think it’s uncalled for and it’s putting everybody in jeopardy.”
Crookshanks said officers used to cite commercial fishermen in small skiffs on the Cowlitz fishing for smelt, yet now aren’t following U.S. Coast Guard rules.
“They’re enforcing us for no lights, no lifejackets, whatever,” he said. “They’re out there running around with no lights on. I want to know what the department’s stand is on that.”
Crookshanks made his comments at a recent Columbia River Compact meeting.
Mike Cenci, deputy enforcement chief for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, said there are exceptions to the Coast Guard rules for law officers.
“Our officers will use night vision while traveling with lights out at times,” Cenci said. “Frankly, we know that for some, desire for us to be visible has more to do with getting heads up that law enforcement is present versus any concern for public safety.”
Allen Thomas covers hunting, fishing and other outdoor topics for The Columbian. He can be reached at 360-735-4555 or online at al.thomas@columbian.com.
