Department of Water Resources
A daily compilation for DWR personnel of significant news articles and comment
March 13, 2008
1. Top Items
Officials shut salmon fishing in seven coastal areas of California, Oregon - Sacramento Bee
Threat of closing jolts fishing industry - San Francisco Chronicle
Scarcity of salmon ends early season; Regulators shut down commercial and recreational fishing from Oregon to the Mexican border - Inside Bay Area
Council weighs salmon struggle against fishing - Eureka Times Standard
Editorial: Anticipating another salmon disaster -
Officials shut salmon fishing in seven coastal areas of California, Oregon
By Matt Weiser, staff writer
Wildlife officials moved Wednesday for early closure of seven coastal salmon fishing zones in
The action came in a conference between fisheries managers gathered in
Officials representing
They decided early closures are needed because the council won't make a final ruling on the 2008 salmon season until mid-April, and seasons that normally open before then could jeopardize the species.
Commercial and sport fishing are affected, from
The California Central Valley fall chinook salmon, a normally robust run that underpins the fishery in both states, is in steep decline.
Last year's run was the second-lowest in 35 years of record-keeping; this year is likely to be worse.
Peter Dygert, National Marine Fisheries Service biologist, said closing both commercial and recreational seasons early is rare.
"It's always been done to preserve some options for future fisheries," said Dygert. "Now, the context is different. Now it's just to save fish for spawning."
The seven zones include two
The rest of the commercial season usually begins May 1.
Opening the two
But future actions probably will keep them closed, Dygert said.
Four recreational zones also were closed early. They cover the entirety of the
One near
Joe Janisch of
"There's probably 200 boats in this harbor that go out on the weekend to chase salmon that won't be going," he said.
The council Friday is set to adopt three options for the bulk of the 2008 season.
One is likely to include total closure of all commercial and recreational salmon fishing in
It will choose a final option in April. State and federal agencies adopt that as formal regulations.
http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/781917.html
Threat of closing jolts fishing industry
San Francisco Chronicle – 3/13/08
By Peter Fimrite, staff writer
The grim prospect of a total shutdown of ocean salmon fishing in
So few fall-run chinook came back to spawn in the Sacramento River and its tributaries last fall that the Pacific Fishery Management Council said Tuesday it would have to ban all salmon fishing unless a request is made for an emergency exception.
By Wednesday, the news had cast a pall over fishermen and salmon lovers from
Even representatives of the salmon industry, who have made it a practice to lobby for more fishing, are saying that the situation is so bad it would be irresponsible for fishermen to put their hooks in the water even if the commercial season in
"I think if we do have fishing, we're shooting ourselves in the foot," said Duncan MacLean, the
MacLean and other fishermen blame drinking water managers for building dams, river water to farmers and agricultural runoff that they say has damaged the fishery, and the prospect of losing their livelihoods because of those things makes them angry. Others have blamed climate change and a deteriorating ocean ecosystem.
"I'm 57 and I've been doing this for 36 years, so it's hard to change horses in this stream," said MacLean, a well known veteran among salmon fishermen. "There's a lot of people in this industry like me."
The council is expected to come up with three options about what to do about the salmon fishing season Friday. A monthlong public comment period will be followed by a final decision the second week of April. One of the options will be to shut down the salmon fishing season before it begins, meaning commercial and recreational fishing would be prohibited. The other two options are likely to include some sport fishing and maybe limited commercial fishing.
Impact on the coast
The collapse will impact recreational and commercial fishing industries all along the Pacific coast. There are about 400 commercial salmon fishermen and women in
Closure of the fishery would also eliminate fresh West Coast salmon from grocery shelves and restaurants and drive up the price of wild salmon. It would hurt entire communities in the
Barbara Emley, 64, who has run a commercial fishing boat with her husband out of Fisherman's Wharf since 1985, said salmon makes up about 70 percent of her annual income.
"We'll probably try crabbing longer, but if everyone shifts from salmon to crab, there will be more competition," she said. "I think we can survive the year, but I'm afraid it will go on."
If the crisis continues, she said, it could spell the end of a unique, nomadic culture of people who love the sea.
"It is like a town with pieces that break off and float around and then re-form in a different shape in another place," she said. "I think that culture is being lost."
Ben Platt, a 45-year-old commercial fisherman based in
"I'm prepared to weather one storm, but we've had severely restricted seasons since 2006 and we're looking at a total collapse of the Central Valley system," said Platt, who figures he will spend all of his savings over the next two years waiting for the salmon to return. "At some point fishing becomes no longer feasible."
The Klamath and Trinity river run along the
Restaurateurs and their customers are also looking at hard times if salmon season closes.
Chef won't use farmed
"We'll stay away from salmon for a while," said Ryan Simas, the head chef at
Paul Johnson, the president of Monterey Fish Market, a high-end seafood wholesaler at Pier 33 in
"Oh man, I'm telling you the king (chinook) salmon is the icon in the Bay Area; this is going to be devastating to the economy," he said. "It's put everyone on edge. A lot of small-boat fishermen are going to go out of business."
Johnson said his market might offer a limited amount of king salmon from
Emley said most fishermen at the meetings this week appear to be resigned to their fate.
"We know there are no fish," she said. "Fishermen always say 'better times are coming,' but I'm not so sure this time."
The council's salmon management plan, which is part of the 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, requires the Pacific Fishery Management Council to close ocean fishing if the number of spawning salmon do not reach the conservation objectives set for the fishery.
The latest fall run count in the
Even if there is no fishing this year, the council is projecting that only 59,000 salmon will come back to spawn during the 2008 Sacramento River fall run, which peaks in September and October.
Knowing that, the council is expected to vote to close the season. It would mark the first time that the federal agency, created 22 years ago to manage the
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/13/MN7EVIMQO.DTL&hw=water&sn=009&sc=190
Scarcity of salmon ends early season; Regulators shut down commercial and recreational fishing from
Inside Bay Area – 3/13/08
By Mike Taugher, Contra Costa Times staff writer
Early season salmon fishing off the coasts of
The actions affect commercial and recreational fishing seasons under way or scheduled to open in the coming weeks.
When they meet again next month, regulators are likely to close the bigger fishing seasons that come later in the year.
A small recreational fishing season off
Commercial fishing scheduled to open off
In
The actions were in response to major declines in salmon populations that were especially pronounced in
Last year's return of spawning adults was less than 90,000, the second lowest figure on record. Worse, the number of returning two-year-olds — a key predictor of the 2008 return — was a record low, meaning this year is likely to be much worse.
On Tuesday, scientists informed the council that even without any salmon fishing, the return of Sacramento River fall run was expected to be fewer than 60,000, or less than half of the minimum target set by regulations.
"There's not going to be any fisheries this year that have any impacts on the Central Valley run," said Duncan MacLean, a commercial salmon fisherman from Half Moon Bay and the industry's California representative to the council.
"I'm totally disgusted," he said. "I am sick and tired of putting myself and my family through this."
Agency scientists for the most part blamed a shift in ocean conditions along the West Coast for the problems.
But others, including the head of the fishery management council, contend the shift can't account for the severity of the problem with
MacLean and other anglers blame the problem instead on water management in the Delta and throughout the
"This is like going to debtors prison for your father's sins," MacLean said. "This is working it's way up the food chain. It started with the Delta smelt (which appears to be close to extinction) and it's working it's way up."
www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/oceansalmon.asp#recreational
See the online version of this story for a summary of 2008
http://www.montereyherald.com/search/ci_8557006?IADID=Search-www.montereyherald.com-www.montereyherald.com
Council weighs salmon struggle against fishing
By John Driscoll, staff writer
But Bitts said Wednesday that the hope was based on an error. The Pacific Fishery Management Council corrected the snafu, which made the outlook for salmon season this year even bleaker, Bitts reported from
The predicted number of salmon from the
”That does not bode well for ocean fisheries for salmon off
The council also acted to close fisheries opened in February, and won't consider reopening them until mid-April if at all. The council is looking to have three options for commercial and sport salmon fishing -- if there is any at all -- drafted by the end of the week.
Any possible fishing is likely to be more carefully scrutinized than in years of even reasonable abundance. The National Marine Fisheries Service has to approve any option presented, and even the most limited fishing would have to be strongly justified, said fisheries service natural resource management specialist Eric Chavez.
”In a case like this we're going to have to take a real close look at what comes out of this,” Chavez said.
More typically, it has been weak
This year it's the generally much more bountiful Central Valley and
The Klamath may again come into play next year. A low run of 2-year-old, or jack, salmon last fall suggests there aren't many 3-year-old salmon in the ocean, according to the fisheries service, although there are lots of 4-year-old fish. The number of 4-year-old fish are a key indicator, especially for commercial fisheries, but they won't factor in much this year.
In 2009, however, there are likely to be few 4-year-old salmon in the ocean. That could again severely limit an ocean fishery, especially if
http://www.times-standard.com//ci_8556766?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com
Editorial: Anticipating another salmon disaster
The
The Pacific Fishery Management Council is meeting in
In
The federal government provided $60.4 million in disaster relief because of weak stocks in the
This season, it appears to be the core West Coast stock that's in danger, especially in the Sacramento River and the
Humboldt County Supervisor Jimmy Smith, a representative to the Klamath Management Zone Fisheries Coalition, has some optimism that in the long term the salmon can respond, and we can hope. But another season shutdown will mean economic strife up and town the West Coast in the immediate future, and especially for communities like ours where fishing is a core industry.
And the global threat to fisheries from pollution, diseases and water diversion seriously challenges the chances for improvement in the future.
The swift action of our elected representatives in anticipating the need for financial assistance is appreciated, but what is really needed is a multinational effort to address our ocean fisheries crisis at a global level. #
http://www.times-standard.com//ci_8556807?IADID=Search-www.times-standard.com-www.times-standard.com
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