News: Columbia River spring chinook salmon run prediction downgraded

By Bill Monroe For The Oregonian/OregonLive

Columbia River salmon biologists have downgraded the pre-season spring chinook salmon prediction for the upper  Columbia from 166,700 to 116,500 fish.

The count at Bonneville Dam stood at 64,479 as of Sunday.

Biologists said a run of 81,800 upriver fish will more than justify the catch and collateral mortalities of 4,332 protected upriver salmon during the April/May sportfishing  seasons below and above Bonneville.

They've said in the past that number should be reached, with nearly a month remaining of counts at Bonneville.

There was no word Monday whether they'll consider reopening sportfishing below or above Bonneville.

The announcement Monday came with a caveat about high flows from interior basin  flooding and wide fluctuations in daily passage, leaving the revised run-size estimate uncertain.