Commercial Sturgeon Setline Fishery for Jan 1-31, 2021

COMMERCIAL STURGEON SETLINE FISHERY EMERGENCY REGULATIONS

Setline Fishery Dates: Noon, Friday, January 1 through Noon, Sunday, January 31 2021.

Area: All of Zone 6

Restrictions: All standard dam sanctuaries remain in effect, but river mouth sanctuaries are not in place for setline fisheries.
Gear: Commercial sturgeon fishing may be conducted with setlines only. Hook Size must be 9/0 or larger. Fishers are encouraged to use circle hooks and avoid J-Hooks.

Allowable Sales: Sales are restricted to Sturgeon only. Salmon and steelhead may not be sold but may be retained for subsistence. Sturgeon between 43-54 inches fork length in The Dalles and John Day pools may be sold or retained for subsistence use. Sturgeon between 38-54 inches fork length in the Bonneville pool may also be sold or retained for subsistence use. However, legal size sturgeon taken with legal subsistence gears (hoop nets or hook and line) may be sold during commercial periods. Sturgeon must be delivered to the buyer “in the round”, that is fins, guts, scutes, and gills intact.

Note: The delivery in the round regulation is to provide an opportunity to obtain weight and age information for management. At the point of sale, sturgeon may be “dressed” (guts, scutes, fins, etc. may be removed) even if a sampler is not available to obtain the information. The sale of sturgeon eggs is allowed for legally caught sturgeon after delivery “in the round.”

Winter season gillnet regulations will be set by the tribes later in January.

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The attached are the Commercial Sturgeon Setline fishery for January 1-31, 2021. They were approved by the Fish & Wildlife Commission on December 28, 2020.