The Northern Pikeminnow Management Program began on a test basis in 1990 and was in full operation beginning in 1991. The Program has three essential fishery components: (a) a “sport-reward” fishery in which participating public anglers are compensated for their catches of northern pikeminnow, (b) a “dam-angling” fishery for which agency personnel are hired to angle for northern pikeminnow directly from dams or in boats operated close to dams, and (c) “site-specific” gill-net fisheries that attempt to remove northern pikeminnow at locations where high levels of predation may occur (e.g., near hatchery release points or tributary mouths). The Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission (PSMFC) and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) together have responsibility for administration and record-keeping for the sport-reward fishery, whereas the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) and four Indian tribes have responsibility for adminsitration of the dam-angling and site-specific fisheries. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has responsibility for evaluation of program accomplishments in terms of impacts on (reductions in) juvenile salmonid predation by northern pikeminnow. The total annual budget for administration and funding of these fisheries and for evaluation of Program impacts has been approximately $3 million, making the NPMP the single most expensive project funded as part of Bonneville’s annual research program (approximately $130 million total) to mitigate for the impacts of the Federal Columbia River Power System.
