"Sockeye salmon -- great table fare, but not good biters on sport gear -- are streaming up the Columbia River in massive numbers and appear likely to be a record return this year."
"Tuesday's count of 41,573 at Bonneville Dam was a record-high, topping Monday's count of 38,756. The old daily count record was 30,690 on June 24, 2010. And, sockeye might be even more plentiful in the decades to come.
'It's an exciting success story of water management and ever-improving passage over the dams,' said Steve Smith, a Canby, Ore., fisheries consultant who works with the Colville tribe.
Cindy LeFleur of the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, chair of the Columbia River Technical Advisory Committee, said the panel of scientists determined on Monday the sockeye run is on track to be the forecasted record of 462,000."
Bill Monroe reports for the Portland Oregonian and Allen Thomas reports for the Vancouver Columbian June 28, 2012.
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