Both recreational and commercial fisheries for smelt fishing will remain closed this year as the authority has decided to improve the run of the fishes. Joe Hymer, state fish biologist, said that the 2012 run is forecasted to improve from 2011, but is still expected to be at a low level. He added that this year run could be better than the past couple of years.
In 2010 the authority has listed the Columbia River smelt, also known as eulachon, as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. As a result of the listing, Washington and Oregon closed all eulachon-directed fisheries in the Columbia River and the entire state of Washington.
The declining smelt run can be seen in the pounds of fish caught during the commercial fishery. From 1990-92, the commercial fishery averaged 3.13 million pounds. The catch dwindled until rebounding in 2001-02, reaching a peak of 1.08 million pounds in 2003. The catch was just 3,600 pounds in 2010, the last time fishing was allowed.
