October 30, 2018 — A series of nets strung between pilings just off the Columbia River shore may offer a glimpse of the future of commercial fishing in the river, even though it harkens back to the fishing practices of a century ago.
But some gillnetters say that the experimental fish trap, also known as a pound net, is just another unworkable idea for catching salmon that threatens their livelihoods.
One morning last week, researchers from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and the Wild Fish Conservancy worked the fish trap set in the Columbia a few miles upstream of Cathlamet, near Nassa Point.
“There is no other site like this in the lower river,” said Adrian Tuohy, a biologist for the Fish Conservancy. “It’s a great scientific monitoring tool.”
One net blocks adult fish from swimming near the shore, steering them through a series of other nets that trap them. Then workers tug on lines and pulleys to dump the fish into a submerged sorting box about the size of a refrigerator.
Aaron Jorgenson, a biologist for the Fish Conservancy, donned waders and hopped into the box to identify the fish. Tuohy netted hatchery coho and dumped them into a box with ice — those fish are sold to a fish buyer. Wild fish are tagged and allowed to swim upstream. Tiny radio transmitters are implanted so the fish can be tracked as they swim past upstream dams.