Pikeminnow Season, Payouts, Extended

Anglers participating in the pikeminnow sport-reward fishery program get 16 more days of fishing.
The pikeminnow season was slated to end Sept. 30, but will now stay open until Sunday, Oct. 16.

The program pays registered anglers $4 to $8 per fish, nine inches or longer. The more fish an angler catches, the more each pikeminnow they hook is worth. Last year the top fisherman in the program earned more than $80,000 in just five-months of fishing.

Northern pikeminnow are voracious eaters, consuming millions of young salmon and steelhead each year. Research shows reducing pikeminnow numbers helps to increase salmon and steelhead populations.

Since 1990, anglers paid through the program, have removed nearly 4 million pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake Rivers reducing predation on young salmon and steelhead by 40 percent.

The program is administered by the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission and is funded by the Bonneville Power Administration. For more information about the program call 800-858-9015 or visit http://www.pikeminnow.org/