Alsea Sportsman's Association Meeting 2/18/18

• Cormorant Hazing Program

Smolts are released from the hatchery around April 10th, and take some time travel downstream to the bay, where they spend up to a month acclimating to the salt in the estuary. It takes roughly $2 to produce and raise each individual hatchery smolt. Multiply that by the over 100k that are released, and you can see the value of our state dollars being gobbled up by these avian predators.

Jim Robinson and Mike Gatens of the Alsea Sportsman's Association conduct hazing efforts through the month of May. Pelagic Cormorants that travel in groups of 4-8 are mainly in the bay, while groups of Double Crested Cormorants travel in groups of up to 70-80 in a flock to the top of tidewater.

The program uses whistler flares to push birds out of the river system, and the hazing boat goes through roughly 20-30 of these flares a day, and 400-500 during the spring. James Lawonn, ODFW biologist in charge of the hazing program has praised the ASA's efforts as one of the most effective programs in the state. You can contact James at (503) 842-2741, Ext. 251 / (503) 812-8171 This operation does more than protect hatchery smolt, there are also chinook and coho smolt, as well as trout that are traveling through the estuary during the spring that are subject to predation from these birds. You can watch a video of how this operation is conducted and see the scale of the populations of these birds feeding on smolts in the lower river on the Alsea Sportsman's Association Facebook Page.

• ASA Salmon Derby

The ASA holds an annual Salmon Derby as a fundraiser for the organization. This year's event is set to take place on September 3rd and 4th. The derby takes place from upstream of the Walport Bridge (Participants are not allowed to fish from below the bridge to the jaws for safety reasons) to the head of tide. A third of last years 45+ fish entered into the derby were caught by trollers, and the rest by tidewater bobber fishing anglers. Volunteers and donors are wanted for the fundraiser banquet dinner at the Waldport Moose Lodge as well. Jim Robinson would also like to swap a donation of a crabbing trip for 4 people with meals for the day included to our Linn-Benton CCA Banquet in exchange for a Salmon or Steelhead Trip from a Linn-Benton CCA guide. You can contact Jim at (541)961-1946

• Missouri Bend Pulley System Improvements

The post where the current pulley system is mounted at Missouri Bend is rotten, and the Pioneer Phone Company plans to replace it. Chuck Pavlik is going to weld a nut onto a new cable so it will not be able to be pulled through the new pulley system that will be installed when Pioneer replaces the post. The cables have been subject to theft in recent history, and hopefully these improvements will be a deterrent.

• Alsea Hatchery Research Center Youth Educational Outreach Program

AHRC in association with STEP run a hatch program that outfits classrooms with aquariums to hatch young fish for educational purposes. This program includes 5 schools, and each school sends 4 classes of young students on a field trip to AHRC for a day. This program typically takes place this time of year, but has been suspended due to concerns about a potential for landslides just above the AHRC. Clearcuts on steep slopes in the Fall Creek gorge have resulted in cracks deep enough to be above a man's head standing in it, and the cracks are as long as the community center (where the meeting was held). The potential devastation of a landslide in that vicinity could have an impact on the river system comparable to the Oso landslide in Washington a few years ago. Letters have been sent to Weyerhauser and ODFW about installing an early warning system, and evacuation route from the AHRC in the case that such a disaster might occur. (Contact Chuck Pavlik for a copy of the letter)

• Free Fishing Weekend Event

ODFW's summer Free Fishing weekend is on June 2nd and 3rd. The ASA participates in volunteering assistance at the Thissel Pond event, and those who are interested in volunteering or donating to the event can contact ASA President Chuck Pavlik at (541)563-5965.

• Wild Broodstock Collection

As of Feburary 12th, the Wild Broodstock Program has only collected 17 fish. 11 of those are combined from captures at the Fall Creek, Drift Creek, Cougar Creek (Five Rivers), and the North Fork Hatchery traps. The other 6 are line caught contributions to the program that will be part of the biters study. There is some confusion among anglers on the river that wild broodstock fish being collected for this program are being killed or dumped into lakes for angler harvest, and that is a large reason that many anglers are not willing to contribute fish to the wild broodstock program. These are some clarifications that are important to add to the discussion revolving around the wild broodstock program. Some were discussed at the meeting, and others I've gotten clarification from afterwards: Line caught wild fish collected for the broodstock program are spawned and released back into the river. It is true that two consecutive years of the eggs collected from wild fish for the broodstock program were lost at the hatchery due to equipment failures. The equipment has since been upgraded, however the trust of the angling public for this program has been put into question, and regaining that trust is a priority in order for this program to succeed. F1, or first generation offspring of wild parents (Wild Broodstock/Right Max Clip) that return to the hatchery without being caught are not used in the spawning of future broodstock. The F1 steelhead that return to the hatchery are killed and become part of the nutrient enhancement program. Traditional Hatchery Broodstock bucks are killed when they return to the hatchery and become part of the nutrient enhancement program. Eggs are taken from Traditional Broodstock hens and they are recycled back into the river to return to the ocean (or be caught by anglers). This is to ensure that the traditional broodstock do not spawn with wild fish in the river Excess traditional hatchery broodstock that return to the hatchery are sometimes placed into lakes for angler harvest opportunities, but this practice is NOT conducted on wild fish that are contributed to the broodstock program for spawning. This may also be done with some F1 fish, but I do not have clarification on that. Either way, it's important for anglers to be educated about how the program operates and that the adult wild fish being collected for the broodstock program are released back into the river after being spawned at the hatchery.

• ASA River Clean-up

The ASA River Clean-up event will take place on Sunday, April 15th this year. Contact Chuck to organize volunteer efforts. The event is short on a trailer that has been used in past years to haul away trash. There is still one available, but a second trailer could be helpful.

• Crabbing Boundary Signs on Alsea Bay

Due to safety concerns, ASA would like to work in participation with the state to create clear boundaries for recreational crabbing in Alsea Bay.

• Port of Alsea Ballot Measure

Regarding improvements of rotten docks. (No notes, not relevant to Linn-Benton County voters. Ask ASA for further details if you're in Lincoln County).