[ODFW-News] Anglers must begin using new harvest codes when take home a salmon

[ODFW News]

Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife 	
Contact: 	Anne Pressentin Young (503) 947-6020	
Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us  Fax: (503) 947-6009
	

For Immediate Release	Tuesday, April 27, 2004

Anglers Must Begin Using New Harvest Codes When They Take Home a
Salmon

SALEM - Anglers who purchase a 2004 combined angling harvest card will
notice several new harvest codes on the accompanying instruction sheet
that must be used when taking home a salmon. The new codes were adopted
by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife earlier this year to aid
in the management of wild stocks in specially designated fisheries. 

The annual harvest card is required to fish for salmon, steelhead,
sturgeon, and halibut. Using codes listed in the instruction sheet,
anglers record their catch on the harvest cards. Regulations require
anglers to record their catch immediately upon removing the fish from
the water. The new pink instruction sheet is being distributed
throughout 2004.

Anglers fishing for Rogue River spring chinook or coho from Tahkenitch
and Siltcoos lakes need to pay particular attention to the new
instructions. In 2004, a selective fishery for Rogue River spring
chinook will take place and a fishery on wild coho in the two lakes may
be offered this fall. 

The new species codes include: 1W for chinook unmarked (wild); 2W for
coho unmarked (wild); and 6W for steelhead unmarked (wild). Harvest
location code 93 was added for Tahkenitch Creek and Lake.

The new codes reflect a regulation change designed to reduce the
harvest of wild spring chinook salmon in the Rogue River and help
rebuild numbers in the basin. Anglers may only keep one non-adipose
fin-clipped spring chinook a day and up to three a year as part of the
salmon and steelhead bag limit on the Rogue. Rogue River hatchery spring
chinook are fin-clipped and can be kept as part of the standard salmon
bag limit.

In addition, a code was re-instated for Tahkenitch Lake. A limited
harvest of wild coho salmon was allowed at both Tahkenitch and Silcoos
lakes last December. This fishery is not listed in the 2004 Oregon Sport
Fishing Regulations but may be offered again this coming fall if coho
runs remain strong. Dates and harvest limits will be announced later
this year.

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Information and Education Division
Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
(503) 947-6002