Low numbers of returning chum salmon to Whatcom County causes early end to fishing
Fishing in the part of Whatcom Creek that flows through downtown will end more than five weeks early this year because chum salmon are returning in low numbers.
The closure begins Friday, Nov. 22, the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife announced.
That means fishing won’t be allowed from the mouth of Whatcom Creek to the markers below the footbridge downstream of Dupont Street in Bellingham.
The season for fishing along Whatcom Creek usually stays open until Dec. 31, according to the 2019-20 Washington Sport Fishing Rules.
The state agency closed fishing in that portion of Whatcom Creek because the return of chum was below the number needed for egg harvesting at the hatchery there, it said in a release on Wednesday.
Returns also were low in 2017 and 2018.
Chum, known as dog salmon — possibly for the large “teeth” they develop during spawning — are as small as 10 pounds and as large as 33 pounds.
They are the most common salmon in the lower reaches of Whatcom County rivers and streams, according to a previous Bellingham Herald article.
Once grown, they return from the ocean to the streams where they were born to spawn.
That’s when people can see them, as well as fish for them, in Whatcom Creek and elsewhere.
This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 5:00 AM.
