We will continue the tagged fish incentives and large tournaments similar to those offered in 1998. We're not trying to eliminate northern pikeminnow. This will in turn reduce their predation on young salmon. Evaluation of the reward fishery is an important component of the overall program. It will tell us how effective we are and where we need to make improvements.
Results indicate that the program is successful.
Since 1990 over 1.2 million northern pikeminnow have been removed from the Snake and Columbia rivers as a result of the sport-award program. Millions of young salmon survived that would have otherwise been eaten. We estimate that predation on juvenile salmonids has been cut by by 38 percent. In 1998, more than 108,000 northern pikeminnow were caught. The northern pikeminnow caught are not going to waste.