The Caddis Fly: Oregon Fly Fishing Blog

ODFW’s Fish and Wildlife Commission approved voluntary guidelines for egg cure manufacturers to reduce or eliminate the use of sodium sulfites in bait cures used for salmon eggs.

Beginning Oct. 1, all new production of cured eggs and eggs cured with commercially available cures should not have more than 12 grams of sodium sulfite per kilogram of cured eggs, a risk level considered acceptable by fishery managers.

A peer-reviewed study by ODFW and Oregon State University found that some commercially available egg cures killed juvenile chinook and steelhead when the fish consumed the eggs. The problem was linked to sodium sulfite, an ingredient that is used to inhibit mold growth. When ODFW tested cured eggs, it found levels of 15 to 50 grams of sodium sulfite per kg of eggs.

Read the back story here.

ODFW got the go-ahead from NOAA to harvest Endangered Species Act listed Oregon Coho Salmon: For the third year in a row, predicted coho salmon returns are high enough to open some rivers and lakes to the harvest of wild fish. In 2011 these include the Nehalem, Tillamook Bay, Nestucca, Siletz, Yaquina, Alsea, Siuslaw, Umpqua, Coos, and Coquille rivers and Tenmile Lakes. Established wild coho fisheries will continue in Siltcoos and Tahkenitch lakes.

“We may not be exactly where we want to be in removing the coastal coho from the threatened and endangered species list,” ODFW biologist Mike Gray said. “But the fact that we can now fish for wild coho means many local populations have made a significant comeback.”