The Idaho Department of Fish and Game is proposing to boost the river otter trapping quota in the Clearwater Region by 50%.
Agency officials are taking public comments through 5 p.m. next Sunday on a suite of proposals for upland game, turkeys and furbearers that would be in effect for the next two years. If approved by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission, the river otter trapping quota in the region would increase from 20 per year to 30.
According to the agency’s proposal, population surveys conducted in 2023 and 2024 “suggested that the river otter population was well represented statewide, and that biologically, ample opportunity exists to increase harvest in the Clearwater Region. This proposal would provide additional harvest opportunity while maintaining stable otter populations in the region.”
River otter trapping has been allowed in Idaho since 2000. However, for much of that time, the state prohibited otter trapping on the Middle Fork of the Clearwater River, the main Salmon River, and the Snake River within its Clearwater Region, and on parts of the Payette River in the Southwest Region and the Salmon River downstream of North Fork in the Salmon Region.
Those prohibitions were lifted in 2022, a move that drew opposition from some river user groups and conservation organizations. At the time, the department stressed that even though the geographic prohibitions were being lifted, the quota would remain at 20.
Individual trappers are allowed to take up to three otters per season. Once the regional quota is met, the season is shut down.
The agency is also proposing to raise the otter quota in its Southwest Region that stretches from McCall to the Idaho-Nevada state line from 25 per year to 35 and the quota in the Upper Snake Region near Idaho Falls from 15 to 20 per year.
Other proposals include establishing hard start dates for pheasant, chukar and gray partridge seasons. More information is available at bit.ly/4ikyNVu.
The agency will host an open house on the proposals from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday at its Clearwater Regional Office in Lewiston.
Those who attend can learn about the proposals and submit comments on them. The comment period is open through 5 p.m. next Sunday.
Barker may be contacted at ebarker@lmtribune.com.
