Northern pikeminnow eat millions of young salmon and steelhead in the Columbia and Snake rivers each year. Researchers believe reducing the number of these predators can greatly help the salmon and steelhead.

In the 2009 season, we will pay anglers for fish 9 inches and larger. The reward will remain the same at $4-$8 for each northern pikeminnow caught in the lower Columbia (mouth to Priest Rapids Dam) and Snake (mouth to Hells Canyon Dam) rivers. This year's qualifying tagged fish will be worth $500.

We're not trying to eliminate northern pikeminnow. What we're trying to do is reduce the average size. Smaller fish eat fewer smolts. This will in turn reduce their predation on young salmon. Evaluation of the reward fishery is an important component of the overall program. It will tell us how effective we are and where we need to make improvements.

Results indicate that the program is successful. Since 1990 over 3.3 million northern pikeminnow have been removed from the Snake and Columbia rivers as a result of the sport reward program. Millions of young salmon survived that would have otherwise been eaten. We estimate that predation on juvenile salmonids has been cut by 37 percent. In 2008, nearly 160,000 northern pikeminnow were caught.

Development of the hydrosystem has made young salmon more vulnerable to predators, including northern pikeminnow, by slowing the flow of the river and concentrating young salmon at dams. In addition, young salmon pass dams through conduits around dam turbines, over spillways or through the turbines. This disorients and injures them, making them easy prey for northern pikeminnow.

The northern pikeminnow is a large member of the minnow family native to the Pacific slope of Western North America. Formerly known as "northern squawfish", the name was changed to northern pikeminnow by the American Fisheries Society in 1998. It has a long snout with a large mouth extending back to the eye. The body is dark green or dusky green above and silvery or creamy white below, with clear fins. Northern pikeminnow are similar in shape to the non-native walleye, but lacks the walleye's obvious teeth and spiny fin rays.

The northern pikeminnow of the Columbia river is not the same as the threatened Colorado pikeminnow. They are two distinct species.

The northern pikeminnow is occasionally mistaken for a peamouth. Click here for tips on how to tell the difference between these two native species of the Columbia river.