Salmon report disastrous news for fishermen

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Feb 1, 2008 | by Julia Scott

PRINCETON-BY-THE-SEA -- Local fishermen saw doom in a report released Tuesday warning that the Sacramento River's fall chinook salmon population fell by two-thirds in 2007 and is headed for collapse, according to data from the federal government.

The sharp drop in chinook, or "king," salmon returning from the Pacific Ocean to spawn in the Sacramento River led the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which released Tuesday's report, to suggest that it may be necessary to close the salmon season entirely.

That would spell disaster for both commercial and recreational fishermen at Pillar Point Harbor, who typically depend on the salmon and Dungeness crab seasons for their entire incomes. Poor salmon returns from the Klamath River in 2006 and 2007 previously caused regulators to cut the first month and a half of salmon season, which normally starts May 1, resulting in untold financial losses for fishermen.

Those losses would be compounded by an even poorer season this year. And the pain would be borne not just by fishermen, but by all the groups that benefit from salmon season -- from processors to bait shops, RV parks, and fishing guides along the Klamath River.

Duncan MacLean, a Half Moon Bay fisherman who is on a team that advises the fishery council, said he's bracing for hard times.

"It's probably going to be worse than anything we've experienced before," said MacLean, 58, who relies on salmon fishing for as much as 70 percent of his income. "It's going to put a lot of us out of business."

Fishermen say they knew the Sacramento River runs were weaker than expected last year, but even they were shocked by the low number of chinook returning to the river to spawn. Only about 90,000 returning adult salmon were counted in the Central Valley in 2007, the second lowest number since 1973, according to the report.

More worrisome is that only about 2,000 2-year-old chinooks -- whose numbers are used to predict returns of adult spawners in the coming season -- returned to the Central Valley last year -- by far the lowest number ever counted. On average, about 40,000 juveniles, or "jacks," return each year.

Some believe the losses are related to changes in the ocean linked to global warming. Others blame the troubles in California on increased pumping of fresh water from the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, which supplies drinking water to millions of people in drought-stricken Southern California, as well as irrigation for America's most fertile farming region.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council will use the data to decide on possible restrictions to, or a complete closure of, the season when it meets in Sacramento in March. Final decisions will be made in April.

Sacramento salmon form the cornerstone of the Pacific salmon fishery. They have a much greater range than Klamath River stocks, and are caught in California, Oregon, Washington and even British Columbia.

The news would be easier to take if the Dungeness crab season had been less of a bust this year, said Jim Anderson, chairman of the California Salmon Council and a commercial fisherman out of Pillar Point.

Fishermen across Northern California lost the first two weeks -- the most profitable two weeks -- of the crab season in November when the Cosco Busan oil spill forced Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to ban all fishing in potentially affected areas. It's been impossible to catch up since then, said Anderson.

"The weather's been really bad, and there's not much crab out there. I talked to a lot of guys, and they've just made their expenses. Nobody's been able to make any money," he said. "I'm still trying to catch up on the gear I bought last year."

In his work with the California Salmon Council, Anderson helped secure a $33 million emergency compensation package last year for California fishermen and fishing-related businesses from the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The payouts, which were based on a fisherman's catch history between 2002 and 2006, helped ease the pain a little, but "didn't do anything for the future," said Anderson.

He said he has already been in touch with officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the Department of Commerce, about the possibility of putting together another compensation package or securing zero-interest loans for fishermen and others affected across the state.

Any loss of the salmon season would strip away 50 percent of the annual profits at Huck Finn Sportfishing, a mainstay of Pillar Point Harbor for years.

"Salmon has always been our bread and butter, along with rockfish," said Peggy Beckett, who owns the store along with her husband Bill.

"It's not been a good winter. If we lost the salmon season, I don't know. Unless I can figure out something else to do, I don't know how we'll survive."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Staff writer Julia Scott can be reached at 650-348-4340 or at julia.scott@bayareanewsgroup.com.