Friday, March 29, 2024

Upper Columbia salmon season closure forces Brewster Derby cancellation

Chamber to host all day event on August 4 with derby vendors, public is welcome

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REWSTER – For the first time in its 13-year history, the Brewster King Salmon Derby has cancelled its annual August event following the announcement from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) earlier this month that closed salmon seasons on the Upper Columbia River. Fishing seasons for both sockeye and chinook  closed within eight days of each other after counts of both species were adjusted downwards from pre-season predictions.

The hammer came down for sockeye fisherman at 12:01 a.m. Saturday, July 8, after numbers of predicted pre-season fish returning to the river system fell by half, from 200,000 fish to just 100,000. The summer chinook season closed as of 12:01 a.m. Monday, July 16, 2018 when pre-season dropped more than 30 percent to some 44,000 fish. Affected waters include the Columbia River from the Washington/Oregon border upstream to Chief Joseph Dam and the Wenatchee, Similkameen, Okanogan, and Chelan rivers.

The Brewster Derby is not the only fishing event that is a victim of the recent closures. The seventh annual Pete Flohr Memorial Salmon Derby in Wenatchee was scheduled for Friday and Saturday, July 20-21. Contestants fish for salmon from Rock Island Dam to Wells Dam in that derby.

For its part, the Brewster Chamber of Commerce remains committed to the vendors who signed up to host visiting Derby fisherman at Columbia Cove.

The chamber will host an all-day event from 10 a.m. until dark on Saturday, August 4.

”It is free to the public to attend.,” said a chamber media release. “We encourage prospective vendors to contact us if they are interested in setting up.”

Vendors can contact Mike Mauk at 509-449-0605 or email brewsterwachamber@gmail.com.

The Columbia Post 97 American Legion will be among Saturday’s vendors at the Cove and will have an all-day BBQ.
 

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