A smaller-than-expected return of chinook salmon prompted Washington regulators to close chinook fishing at the end of the day Sunday on sections of the Snake and mid-Columbia rivers, which had been scheduled to remain open through mid-June.

The current forecast is for 180,000 returning chinook, down from 269,300 initially projected by Washington and Oregon fishery managers.

Columbia River treaty tribes also agreed to close their main stem spring chinook fisheries Sunday.

Areas covered by the early closures include the Columbia near the Ringold Springs hatchery in Franklin County; the Snake from the railroad bridge at confluence with the Columbia upstream to the no-fishing zone below Ice Harbor Dam; and the Snake from the Texas Rapids boat launch upstream seven miles to the boat launch about a mile upriver from Little Goose Dam.

Sport and commercial fisheries below Bonneville Dam on the Columbia have been closed since mid-April, and the recreational fishery between Bonneville and McNary dams closed Saturday.

In addition, almost all recreational salmon fishing has been closed on rivers throughout California, and a chinook closure was ordered on the lower Willamette River in Oregon.