California Salmon Shortage Distressing Fishermen, Salmon

MILLBRAE, Calif. — California's commercial chinook salmon fishing season will be called off again after a record low number of fish returned to spawn last year, federal fisheries managers announced Wednesday.

The decision by the Pacific Fishery Management Council will almost completely curtail commercial fishing in Oregon as well, but it allows the sport and commercial seasons in Washington state to proceed.

The decision marks the second straight year that the council has halted commercial angling for natural and hatchery chinook salmon, or "king" salmon, in California. The vote must be approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service before May 1.

King salmon populations returning to the Central Valley to spawn have declined in recent years, with the council estimating that 66,264 salmon adults returned to the Sacramento River in 2008. The estimate was down from 90,000 in 2007. More than 750,000 adult salmon were counted in 2002.

Chinook salmon hatch in freshwater streams and rivers, then migrate to the ocean where they feed and grow before returning to spawn in the fresh waters in which they were born. Large water pumps in the Sacramento Delta and ocean changes have been blamed for the decline in California.

The Sacramento River chinook run often provides the bulk of salmon caught off the coasts of California and Oregon. Returns in the Klamath River, another salmon spawning river north of the Sacramento, were higher but still smaller than expected.

Some fishermen said they were prepared for the season to be called off and hope the actions will improve their livelihoods in coming years.

"It's better off sitting out this season, then looking at good projections for next year," said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, an industry group.

Salmon return forecasts in the Sacramento River are expected to double next year to 122,196. But that estimate would mean only 196 fish could be legally caught, because biologists say the rest are needed to sustain the population.

Congress approved a $170 million relief package last year for struggling fishermen and related businesses to make it through the year. About $50 million was set aside in anticipation of this year's season being canceled, Grader said.

Dave Bitts, who has fished salmon for 30 years, said some salmon anglers switched to catching groundfish like black cod to help make ends meet, but most stopped fishing.

"Even if we all went to groundfish, there's no combination of fisheries out there to replace the loss of salmon," Bitts said.

Comments

[StopGlobalWarmingBeVegan]

Overfishing is the problem of pirate attacks.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/04/overfishing-pirates-phillips-somali.php

[Gasparilla]

No one will talk about the real problem. Too many people for the resource. We could cut immigration, which is the cause of most of our population growth, or we can keep pretending.

[Tom95134]

#1. Stop Overfishing.

#2. Support environmental programs that are targeted at preserving the rivers and salmon spawning locations.

#3. Wait.

[StanlyManly]

#2. No way. Gobs of money has been thrown at the salmon already. It is competely ineffecient. Spend a fraction of that money on finding a new food source, like the arctic char that was mentioned.

Also, this is just not worth the effort anyway. Salmon is a luxury item, not a staple of our diet. With the economic downturn, people aren't going to be paying $35 for a salmon dinner anyway, even if the fish were not in serious decline. California has far more pressing issues to address than this.

[prettypants]

America was founded on new ideas and adventure, so why are we so scared of changing the way we operate our rivers. Salmon are an incredible species and the fact that they have held on this long can attest to the will of this fish to survive. I have worked in salmon restoration for nearly a decade and I can tell you that if we give them a river, they will come back.

Dams were never meant to be a permanent part of the environment and some are costing more keep than they are worth. On the Columbia-Snake River, scientists have said again and again that removing the four lower Snake River dams is the most effective, and maybe only, action we can take to restore the basin's most endangered Snake River salmon. That alone should be enough to at least warrant an examination of that solution, but to throw a cherry on top — we American taxpayers have wasted $8 billion on recovery measures for Columbia-Snake salmon and the federal agencies want to spend $7 billion more on the same recovery measures that have not worked.

Please urge President Obama to lead on this issue and create a comprehensive and coastwide solution to the Pacific salmon crisis before we lose this iconic fish and the communities it supports forever. http://ga0.org/campaign/obama

[StanlyManly]

Salmon in the Northwest certainly have not "held on". Were you unaware of all the hatcheries?

So, how many billions will it cost to tear down these dams and impliment new energy production facilities?

Hypocrisy is fun, but its a very ineffective tactic for winning an argument. Your agenda is quite clear now.

[JnrNorman]

ORGANIC HEMP SED OIL
better than fish or fish oil much less mercury

[StanlyManly]

I was wondering when a pothea... er, I mean "hemp enthusiast" would chime in with the alleged panacea of our age. Let me know when they come up with the hemp based fusion reactor.

[Aabby]

LOL

[Dameocrat]

but it hasn't proven effective against depression yet. It is a source ala, rather than the epa that has proven effective against major depression, and bipolar disorder.

[StanlyManly]

The real solution is simple.

Start fishing for other species that are more plentiful, like the Humbolt Squid.

Crazy I know...

[jsarets]

I recommend arctic charr as a delicious and sustainable alternative to salmon. It's one of the only carnivorous fish that can be farmed sustainably in a closed-loop recirculating system. Unlike most farmed fish, arctic charr thrive in the low temperatures of unheated water supplies in much of North America, saving huge amounts of water heating energy.

The taste is closer to salmon than rainbow trout, which would be the other eco-friendly carnivorous fish for aquaculture. I also like wild smelt, which is a much smaller cousin of the salmon family. It's more of an oily fish, like herring, so perhaps they're an acquired taste, but I like them pan fried whole.

Unfortunately, that just about does it for the carnivorous fish that we can cultivate sustainably for mass consumption. Then you have the grazing fish like tilapia and striped bass. They're tasty, but it's seems easier to get tired of them.

[StanlyManly]

Its nice to see someone speak who has a view grounded in reality. Although I am no expert on the particulars of the species in your argument, simply switching to another available food source just seems like a no brainer to me.

[whatbox]

There is a way of fixing this problem without tearing down the dams (which are an important source of "green" electricity). The adult salmon going up river, and the salmon fry coming down river, do so at predictable times of the year. So, for those weeks, or months, when the salmon are moving in the rivers, shut down the water pumps and bypass the hydroelectric turbines until the fish have passed.

From what I have read elsewhere, the greatest mortality occurs when the salmon fry are coming down the river after spawning. As these young fish pass through the turbines and pumps, the pressure changes cause their swim bladders to rupture, which results in their death. If the pumps and turbines are switched off and by-passed, a lot more salmon fry will make it to the Pacific alive, and four years later a lot more of them will return to spawn.

I don't know if this idea has been tried yet, but if it hasn't, it should be.

[joebaggadonuts]

Seems like a simple solution. Anyone know why it won't work? Investment in infrastructure like a smart grid should make this solution feasible and should happen now. Before we have nothing to eat.

[prettypants]

Spilling more water over the dams when juvenile salmon are migrating to the ocean does boost salmon survival. An example is the slightly improved returns on the Columbia-Snake this year. But federal agencies refuse to allow this extra spill on their own accord. Fishing and conservation groups had to fight in court to have these protections placed in the river. But NMFS has already rolled these protections back in their latest plan. Two prior plans have been thrown out by a federal court and this latest plan is back in court.

While this spill is helpful in the interim, the science has shown us again that some outdated and costly dams must be removed to recover salmon and protect the Pacific salmon fishing industry. The four lower Snake River dams kill upwards of 90% of outmigrating salmon and produce a very small amount of electricity. We have truly clean alternative energy to replace these dams. Without removing them, we have no hope of recovering salmon to abundant, sustainable levels.

When we elected President Obama, we voted for change, not the status quo and right now we need his leadership to change the way we operate our signature Western rivers so that they work for salmon and people.

[StanlyManly]

Yeah, our hydro produces so little electricity that California had to buy some when they were in trouble. You know, because all their solar and wind was working out so well, and our hydro produced so little, and is so ineffective.

Odd that 2/3rds of the Northwest get their power from hydro.

[StanlyManly]

BTW, Salmon are a lost cause. Any species that needs decades of hand holding and continues to decline is just not worth the effort of sustaining. We certainly don't rely on salmon as a major food source, it is merely a luxury item and hobby.

If you want to tear down dams to keep Jake's serving up $35 plates of poached salmon, at the cost of me having to pay higher electric bills, I'm gunna have to say no.

[liminal67]

Tear a few dam down....

http://pitchbendpost.blogspot.com/

[Greenguy25]

We keep building dams, polute waterways and over fish specific species again and again, then we are supprised when they tell us the population is down. The human race has the intelligence and ability to destroy all other forms of life on earth, but we just can't seem to rap our heads around the connection between a healthy eco-system and our own health and wellbeing.

http://www.mygreenscene.com

[StanlyManly]

Destroy all other forms of life on Earth? My god man, how do you come up with such colossal exaggerations?

[joebaggadonuts]

I think the can do it because he is paying attention, StanlyManly.