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Tribal, state agencies to
conduct sturgeon survey
Portland, Oregon
- The Columbia River
Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC), in cooperation with the Yakama
Nation, the Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife and the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife, will conduct a white sturgeon population
survey in Bonneville Reservoir through February 2003. Contracted tribal
fishers and Yakama Nation fisheries technicians will begin tagging
white sturgeon the week of Dec. 2. State agencies will resume tagging
in late spring and continue through summer 2003.
The cooperative effort will update the 1999 population estimate and
provide tribal and state management staff the necessary information
to continue management while allowing for sustainable growth of Bonneville
Reservoir's white sturgeon population.
Fisheries technicians from the Yakama Nation Fisheries Department
and contracted tribal fishers will perform the survey from tribal
commercial fishing vessels using clearly labeled and identifiable
fishing gear. All sanctuaries for white sturgeon will be observed
and all fish captured will be returned to the reservoir.
The tribal and state agencies ask for the public's cooperation in
not disturbing research gear. Contact CRITFC project leaders Blaine
Parker or Kevin Kappenman at (503) 238-0667 for more information.
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About CRITFC
The Portland-based Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission is
the technical support and coordinating agency for fishery management
policies of the Columbia River Basin's four treaty tribes: the Confederated
Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, the Confederated Tribes
of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon, the Confederated Tribes
and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Nez Perce Tribe.
CRITFC, formed in 1977, employs biologists, other scientists, public
information specialists, policy analysts and administrators who work
in fisheries research and analyses, advocacy, planning and coordination,
harvest control and law enforcement. |
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