Adipose Fin

Adipose Fin

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
I had a fascinating discussion with Idaho Fish and Game's Head of Fisheries, Ed Schriever and amongst other things, when talking about the fall run of chinook, Ed said that only hatchery born fish can be harvested. So he wants people in Idaho to know how you can tell whether or not a fish that you have caught can be harvested or must be released. "We do have a growing contingent of folks that are learning how to catch fall Chinook and the popularity is carrying on. We only allow the harvest in the sport fishery of adipose clipped fish. This is a fish that did originate from a hatchery and headache then clipped off of it so that you can tell what it is. Half of the run our natural origin fish and half of the hatchery fish or so, aren't clipped. Only about a quarter or slightly less than a quarter of those adult fall Chinook over Granite are actually available for sport harvest even though you can catch and release all of the unmarked fish while you are trying to find a clipped fish to keep.
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