Kokanee salmon fishing has been banned at Idaho's Lake Coeur D'Alene. The ban applies to all part of the lake except for the southern end which is managed by the Coeur D'Alene tribe.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game will lift the ban until the population of kokanee salmon increases. Summer trawls have revealed that there was a decrease in the number of mature and 2-year-old kokanees. Some of the factors attributed to the decrease include floods that might have swept many kokanees away from the lake, and a boost in chinook salmon population which feeds on kokanees.
Kakonee salmons are big and feisty land-locked sockeyes that are targeted for their taste. Kokanee fishing is a popular activity in the lake that's why some fishermen suggest that a quota for kokanee fishing should just be imposed.
Chip Corsi, Fish and Game regional coordinator, says that the ban is temporary and that it serves as a conservation effort before the Lake experience a kokanee crisis like what happened in Priest Lake and Lake Pend Orielle. Last week, a public survey was done and 66 percent of the respondents approved closure of the lake from kokanee fishing.
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