Many anglers have become aware of the Association of Northwest Steelheader’s Quest for 100K campaign. Launched on January 9th, the Q4100K is an initiative to bring back 100,000 spring Chinook to the Willamette Basin each and every year. To do this, we’re focusing on four critical steps to make that happen:
- Amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act to address the growing crisis of sea lions consuming salmon and steelhead in the Willamette and Columbia Rivers, and their tributaries.
- Get the federal government to prioritize fish passage upstream for adults and downstream for juveniles for the 13 major fish passage impediments in the Willamette River watershed.
- Manage water quantity and quality for safe fish passage through the watershed.
- Improve hatchery fish fitness to improve return rates, catch rates and reduce the damaging effects of hatchery strays to the wild spawning beds.
These are tall asks for any one organization, so we’re in the process of building a coalition of organizations to tackle these monumental tasks. We’re confident that we can get this done.
We do know however that this initiative will take time and resources and the support of more than just the sport fishing community. For that reason, we have the 2018 Willamette Salmon Quest. Join us on May 12th, 2018 to raise funds to restore the Willamette River spring Chinook run once again, for all to enjoy! Do you remember what 100,000 adult spring Chinook runs look like? Let’s return this river to its once great state of opportunity.
In the 2018 Willamette Salmon Quest, you can:
- get placed with one of the volunteer guides that will help with the event,
- register for a self-guided adventure and dinner,
- Or just come to the dinner and hear why it’s so important to restore these fish and support this initiative.
Go to our REGISTRATION PAGE NOW and help us achieve our goal of bringing back 100,000 spring Chinook each and every year to the Willamette River and its tributaries!
The Sultan of Sellwood (John Shmilenko) and Bob Rees with an April 4th, 2018 spring Chinook salmon, yes, from the Sellwood Bridge area.