Top fisherman catches 7000 fish, wins $70K in conservation reward program
PORTLAND, Ore. — A pikeminnow angler participating in the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program won almost $70,000 as part of a conservation project.
Northern pikeminnow are significant predators of Oregon's native fish, consuming millions of young salmon and steelhead every year and threatening the population.
Nearly 1,200 people registered to be part of the 2022 Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program that ran from May 1 through Sept. 3. The program, funded by the Bonneville Power Administration, pays registered anglers $6 to $10 per fish, nine inches or longer. The more fish an angler catches, the more each pikeminnow they reel in is worth.
Each year, state fish and wildlife biologists also release hundreds of specially tagged northern pikeminnow each worth $200 – $500.
READ MORE | Previous coverage of the Reward Program
This year, the top angler registered with the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program earned $69,230, catching almost 7,000 fish in just five months.
Anglers cumulatively caught and removed more than 140,000 northern pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake rivers this year, protecting hundreds of thousands of young salmon and steelhead from predation.
Since 1991, anglers paid through the program have removed around 5.4 million pikeminnow from the Columbia and Snake rivers. The program has reduced predation on young salmon and steelhead by up to 40% since it began removing 10 – 20% of the estimated Northern pikeminnow population.
The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife collaboratively manage the Northern Pikeminnow Sport Reward Program.
More information about the program can be found here
