Alex Paul
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has scheduled a public meeting here Sept. 6 to discuss the possibility of limiting fishing on Foster Reservoir to the months of May through October.
Currently, Foster Reservoir is open year-round for fishing. The proposal is intended to minimize impact on juvenile wild winter steelhead runs in the South Santiam River.
The public meeting will be held from 7-9 p.m. at the SHHS cafeteria.
ODFW fisheries biologists will open the meeting with a short presentation.
According to the ODFW, winter steelhead in the Willamette River and tributaries, including the South Santiam, were listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1998. The proposed regulations would aid in steelhead recovery and bring ODFW angling regulations into compliance with requirements of the ESA.
Moving the opening of fishing season on the reservoir to late May would allow juvenile steelhead to migrate more easily without being subjected to angler harvest. Creel surveys take in the early 1980s indicate juvenile steelhead are caught and kept by trout anglers. All hatchery-reared trout will have their adipose fin clipped, so anglers can identify and keep them.
Angling in area rivers was limited to catch and release only, no live bait in 1999.