California fishing organizations seek total closure of salmon seasons to protect future stocks
Leaders of three California recreational and commercial fishing organizations called Friday for a complete closure of the salmon season this year, saying recent reports of low chinook salmon stocks leave no choice but to conserve what’s left.
With the Pacific Fisheries Management Council meeting Sunday in Seattle to establish the parameters of this year’s salmon fishing seasons, the groups said there was no point in considering anything but a total shutdown.
“There are many people whose livelihoods are at risk,” said Glen Spain, acting executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, which represents commercial fleets at ports along the California coast, including Bodega Bay. “It’s not an easy decision, but there is no other way that makes sense.”
The other two groups calling for a complete closure are the Golden Gate Fishermen’s Association and the Northern California Guides and Sportsmen’s Association, which represents businesses in the recreational fishery.
Longtime Bodega Bay charter captain Rick Powers, whose boat New Sea Angler is a fixture on the Sonoma Coast, is president of the Golden Gate Fishermen’s Association. He said closure of the fishery would prove a shock to recreational anglers who experienced the joy of hooking king salmon during the past two, strong seasons.
But after being presented with reports this week from state and federal scientists showing only an estimated 169,767 adult fish are believed to be in the ocean available to catch, it’s clear something is wrong, Powers said.
Adding to the alarm in California’s salmon fleet: Less than 62,000 adult fish were estimated to have returned to the Sacramento River last year to reproduce.
“We’re just trying, as stewards of the resources, to protect the species for future generations,” Powers said.
“We’re very dependent on the sustainability of our fisheries,” Spain said. “When the numbers aren’t there, we can’t fish.”
The season-setting process also legally requires any sport or commercial harvest be based on effort and catch targets that will allow a species to remain viable. The Sacramento River fall run chinook that contributes most to the salmon caught offshore of the Bay Area and the North Coast was declared “overfished” by federal fisheries officials in 2018, then rebuilt in 2021 after three years of major restrictions.
It is now at risk of being declared overfished again, after returning spawners fell below the target ranges of 122,000 to 180,000.
Born in inland freshwater streams and rivers, young salmon swim out to the ocean to mature, returning home to spawn after three years.
They face a treacherous journey to the ocean, where they mature.
Drought years compound those perils, when low, warm flows can strand the fish in disconnected pools or even desiccate the eggs and baby fish, called fry.
Many fishermen and environmentalists particularly blame state and federal water managers for favoring agricultural interests at the expense of fish and exacerbating already bad conditions.
Spain said U.S. Bureau of Reclamation policies three years ago at the end of the Trump administration left a particularly large number of young West Coast salmon to die before reaching the ocean.
“The fish that aren’t coming back this year are the fish that did not survive in the warm water,” he said.
Spain said the associations wanted to make their position known before the meeting started Sunday, as well as early enough to let California Gov. Gavin Newsom and other state agencies move swiftly to seek federal and state disaster assistance for those affected.
“These coastal communities, without a vibrant salmon fishery during the summer, it’s going to trickle down and the effect is enormous,” Powers said. “Not just our boats. We have people coming from all over the state and patronizing businesses all over the coast.”
You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan (she/her) at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.
