Nooksack River won’t open for fishing this weekend. The reason has scientists concerned
Fishing on the Nooksack River won’t open as normal this weekend, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said Tuesday, citing low returns of endangered wild steelhead and spring and summer Chinook salmon.
All fishing for all species of fish will stay closed on all forks of the river until the end of July or through summer, depending on the river fork. Nooksack fishing normally closes for several months in mid-February, a Fish and Wildlife spokesman told The Bellingham Herald.
“We have low runs returning and also a hot summer forecast — that’s a dangerous combination,” Fish and Wildlife spokesman Chase Gunnel told The Herald in an interview.
Gunnel said that other rivers in Washington state will open Friday for fishing — such as the Skagit River — because they have large numbers of hatchery fish returning to spawn.
Fish and Wildlife said the continued Nooksack closure was required to protect spring and summer Chinook salmon and wild steelhead runs. Those fish in particular need deep, cold water through summer and the return of the rainy season in October.
May rainfall for Bellingham was running nearly 2 inches below the normal 2.23 inches monthly average, but Tuesday’s record rainfall of 1.08 inches eased that deficit.
Seasonal rainfall since October for Bellingham, as measured at the airport, has been mostly normal. But the “snow-water equivalent” of the North Cascades snowpack is about 80% of normal, according to a report issued Tuesday by the Natural Resources Conservation Service.
It’s mountain snowmelt that feeds the river’s north and middle forks through summer, when Whatcom County sees its warmest temperatures and least rainfall.
Here are the fishing closure locations and timelines issued Tuesday:
▪ Main stem of the Nooksack River from Lummi Nation to the confluence of north and south forks near Deming: Saturday through July 31.
▪ North Fork of the Nooksack River from the Highway 9 Bridge to Nooksack Falls: Saturday through Sept. 30.
▪ Middle Fork of the Nooksack River from the mouth to the former city of Bellingham diversion dam: Saturday through Sept. 30.
▪ South Fork of the Nooksack River from the mouth to Skookum Creek: Saturday through Sept. 30.
