SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Federal regulators voted Thursday to impose severe restrictions on salmon fishing off the coasts of Oregon and Northern California to protect dwindling populations in the Klamath River.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council decided to close most of the 700 miles of coastline to commercial salmon fishing for much of May, June and July, the most productive months of the season, which runs from April-October. Federal fishery officials said the closures were the broadest ever imposed on the West Coast salmon fishery.
“This is going to be a horrible year,” said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association. “It’s not a total closure, but it’s the closest thing to it.”
The council’s decision, which members described as “brutal” and “gut-wrenching,” still must be approved by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which generally follows the panel’s recommendations.
“It strikes a careful balance between ensuring there will be enough salmon for healthy runs in the future, while ensuring there will be as many opportunities as possible for fishermen to harvest other healthier stocks,” said Bob Lohn, the NMFS’s northwest regional administrator.
Salmon trollers were relieved the council voted to allow at least some fishing, but they said it would be difficult to make ends meet.
“We’re getting a lot of fishing time in areas with no fish and very little fishing time in areas that do have fish,” said Mike Hudson, of Berkeley, who heads the Small Boat Commercial Salmon Fishermen’s Association. “It’s going to allow some of us to squeak by financially, and it’s going to keep a little bit of salmon on the market for our customers.”
The council voted to impose minor restrictions on recreational salmon fishing, but sport fishermen were generally pleased.
The council, meeting in Sacramento, heard testimony from dozens of biologists, environmentalists and fishermen on whether it was possible to preserve a salmon fishing season without hurting Klamath chinook.
While salmon populations from the Sacramento and Columbia rivers are healthy, Northern California’s Klamath River has seen poor returns of spawning salmon. In recent years, Klamath water has been diverted for farming, leading to lower river levels, warmer water and an increase in parasites that attack young fish.
Because salmon return to spawn in the rivers where they were born, fishery managers are concerned that catching the reduced numbers of Klamath salmon could deplete future generations.
Federal regulators are required to ensure at least 35,000 salmon return to the Klamath each year. But the council voted to lower the threshold to 21,000 this year to preserve a minimal fishing season.
Commercial salmon landings were worth $23 million in California and $13 million in Oregon last year, while recreational fisheries were worth $18 million in California and $5 million in Oregon, according to the council.Fishermen in Washington state said they expected an influx of Oregon trollers who will increase pressure on their fishery.
“It makes the pieces of the pie much smaller for the fishermen that don’t travel,” said Jim Olson, a fisherman in Auburn and vice president of the Washington Trollers Association.
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