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600 Capitol Way North, Olympia, WA 98501-1091
July 25, 1997
Contact: Jeff Weathersby, (360) 902-2253
Lake Wenatchee to remain closed to sockeye fishing to protect spawning salmon
WENATCHEE -- There will be no recreational Lake Wenatchee sockeye fishing
season this year, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife announced today.
While almost 45,000 sockeye have passed Bonneville Dam, very few of the fish
are migrating up the Wenatchee River to the lake.
Joe Foster, regional fish biologist in Ephrata, also noted the sockeye run is late
this year, possibly because water flows in the Columbia River have been high.
It appears approximately 14,000 sockeye might reach Lake Wenatchee where
the spawning goal is about 25,000 salmon. The balance of the migrating sockeye are
expected to continue to the Okanogan River system.
While Lake Wenatchee has not had a sockeye fishery since 1993 to protect
spawning fish, Foster said the number of reproducing salmon this summer may exceed
any year since 1993.
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