Natural populations of Chinook salmon plummeted in 2018 because too many were being eaten by non-native smallmouth bass.
The fish hatchery breeding Chinook for the Coquille was also struggling to catch enough fish for its program. The hatchery previously focused on capturing wild salmon to breed in the hatchery, but switched to trapping hatchery salmon that returned the next year.
John Ogan is the executive director of natural resources with the Coquille Tribe, which became co-manager of the hatchery in 2022. He said when the state switched their methods, they were unable to collect enough fish to meet the hatchery needs.
“The state was struggling by itself, even with the hatchery program," he said. "When the Tribe secured its co-management agreement, we really reached out to the community and said, ‘We all have to do this together.’”
Ogan said they’ve been able to overhaul the hatchery program to become much more successful. Now they are catching record numbers of fish. He said they are trying to breed as much fish as possible, rather than the bare minimum.
"The reason that fishing is opening this year on the Coquille for hatchery fall Chinook is directly a consequence of that tribal viewpoint that we have to put the fish back in the river," said Ogan.
Ogan said wild Chinook are still struggling, but they plan on continuing to restore habitat, removing non-native species and introducing hatchery fish to recover the population. He said genetics testing has shown that the hatchery fish and wild fish are the same, so they want to release the hatchery fish upstream in natural spawning areas to bring back natural populations.
The Coquille Tribe and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife are asking the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission to reopen Chinook salmon fishing on the Coquille, which has been closed since 2021. Combined with a proposal for Coho salmon fishing, it would allow a daily limit of two adult salmon (including one wild coho), and a maximum of three wild Coho salmon per season. The season would be open from mid-September to mid-October.
The Commission is considering the wild Coho proposal on August 15, and the Chinook salmon proposal on Sept. 12. Ogan is confident that the commission will adopt the proposals, because of their support from local biologists.
