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Some salmon fishing likely permitted this year, but fishermen skeptical about 2010 season

Posted by: Maven on March 12, 2010 at 5:55 am

Hey check this out. Same story, three different ways of reporting it:

From the San Francisco Chronicle:

“Salmon fishermen can dust off their poles, sponge off their boats and get ready to hook some chinook for the first time in three years. There will be at least limited ocean salmon fishing this year, according to almost all of the options laid out Thursday by the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

The 14-member council meets at this time every year to mull plans for the fishing season, an emotionally fraught process that is highly anticipated by fishing industry workers all along the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington.

Federal biologists predicted that 245,000 fall run chinook salmon will swim up the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems later this year to spawn, more than six times the number that returned last fall.

“Fishermen should be relieved to have something this year,” said Peter Dygert, a biologist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries service. “It’s not going to be an economic bonanza, but it will be something.” … “

Continue reading this article from the San Francisco Chronicle by clicking here.

From the Santa Rosa Press Democrat:

“Local commercial fishermen say they’re not optimistic about this year’s salmon prospects, even after a federal panel recommended reopening the fishing season along the California coast, with restrictions.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council approved three options Thursday that outline where West Coast fishermen might be allowed to cast their lines and nets beginning this spring. Oregon and Washington are poised to have better seasons because fish are more bountiful there.

Federal biologists predict a possible return of 245,000 fall-run Chinook, a significant jump from last year’s record low return of 39,500. Last year the federal fishery council predicted a return of 122,000.

That discrepancy worries local fishermen.

“This is the first year where I’ve seen the fishermen are much more conservative than the agencies,” said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations. … “

Continue reading this article from the Santa Rosa Press Democrat by clicking here.

And this from the Associated Press:

“California salmon fishermen may not get much, if any, time on the ocean this year, while their counterparts in Washington and Oregon would fare better because salmon are more abundant there, under recommendations expected Thursday.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council plans to issue three proposals outlining where commercial and recreational fishermen along the West Coast might be allowed to cast lines and nets, and how much salmon they can catch.

More chinook salmon are expected to return to California’s rivers to spawn. But concern about the precipitous decline of salmon in the rivers flowing from California’s Central Valley into San Francisco Bay over the last three years threatens to shut down the fishery along the state’s coastline for a third straight year.

“There’s an option to close everything,” said Chuck Tracy, head of the salmon section for the Portland, Ore.-based management council. “The other two options involve some level of fishing.” … “

Continue reading this article from the Associated Press by clicking here.

March 12, 2010 · Filed Under Wildlife & Endangered Species

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