Washington and Oregon have agreed Tuesday to extend Columbia River salmon fishing from Warrior Rock near Woodland upstream to Pasco through Sept. 22.
Fishing had been scheduled to close beginning Monday.
The states also approved allowing a chinook to be kept between Buoy No. 10 at the Columbia River mouth upstream to west Puget Island near Cathlamet through Sept. 22 and boosting the coho bag limit to three hatchery fish through Oct. 31.
There will be no extension at this time between west Puget Island and Warrior Rock.
Tucker Jones, Columbia River manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said that stretch of the river has come close to catching its allocation.
“We still have upriver brights as a limiter,’’ Jones said. “We’re not opening wide open. We have enough to add a week.’’
Stuart Ellis of the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission said state, federal and tribal biologists have upgraded the Columbia fall chinook forecast to 588,350 adult fall chinook, which would be 7 percent greater than the initial prediction.
Ellis said the return of bright stock fall chinook is expected to be 13 percent greater than forecast, but the return of tule chinook upstream of Bonneville Dam is anticipated to be 5 percent less.
Jeff Whisler of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife said anglers are projected to catch about 6,000 adult fall chinook between Warrior Rock and Bonneville Dam in the week-long extension.
Fishermen between Bonneville Dam and the Highway 395 Bridge in Pasco are projected to catch about 2,600 adult chinook, he added.
Only about 400 fall chinook are anticipated to be harvested between Buoy 10 and west Puget Island in the week-long extension.
The commercial fleet will fish from 8 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12, to 6 a.m. Friday, Sept. 13, and 8 p.m. Sept. 17 to 6 a.m. Sept. 18 between Warrior Rock and Beacon Rock.
The states project the netters may catch as many as 9,900 adult chinook although that estimate is likely too high, Whisler said.
