Central Oregon Fish Kill Could Curtail Fishing Season On The Deschutes
Oregon’s Department of Fish and Wildlife is considering cutting shortthe fishing season on part of the Deschutes River. That’s afterhundreds of fish became stranded last week in a shallow river channeloutside of Bend.
After the first reports came in, ODFW employees and volunteers headedout with buckets to rescue fish that were still breathing. But thedepartment estimates several hundred fish may have perished.
Tod Heisler is the executive director of the Deschutes River Conservancy.
He says the dry summer meant the state had to divert more water to fully replenish irrigation reservoirs.
But he also says the region is coming out of a three-year wet periodand Heisler says fisheries tend to rebound with increased flows.
“This is a tragedy and this is a loss. There were all kind ofaquatic insects there and different species of fish. But it’s also apromise of hope that says if we can restore flows more consistently inthat upper river, our fisheries should rebound and should be ok,”said Heisler.
Heisler says he hopes better resource management could prevent similar occurrences in the future.
