No commercial fishing on Tuesday

Washington and Oregon officials announced today there will not be another commercial fishing period for spring chinook salmon in the lower Columbia River until at least mid-May.

Sport-fishing is closed on Tuesday in case another day of netting was to be allowed.

There are fewer than 250 upper Columbia spring chinook available to the commercial fleet prior to the run forecast update in mid-May.

Test fishing was conducted Sunday in the Wahkiakum and Cowlitz portions of the lower Columbia.

Sixteen test drifts caught 144 spring chinook and 16 steelhead. Eighty-four percent of the chinook were fin-clipped and 60 percent were of upper Columbia River origin.

The test drifts also caught one legal sturgeon, 16 sublegals and one shad.

An update with the latest sport and commercial catch figures will be available on Tuesday afternoon.