An unexpected 2008 salmon disaster, combined with cuts to angling for bottom fish, is likely to put the Noyo Harbor sport fishing boat the Telestar out of business, said owner Randy Thorton.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council has announced three options, two of which will mean no salmon season whatsoever in Northern California and Southern Oregon.
“The saddest thing about this for me is I have a really well-established business with lots of great customers I have fished with for 20 years,” Thorton said.
“I get a lot of positive reactions from the customers who really enjoy coming to town to fish and also enjoy other aspects of our community. I have donated to a lot of good community causes, taken out PAL youth trips, soccer trips,” he said.
2008 is shaping up to be the worst year in history for the California king salmon and the thousands of people who depend on the magnificent migratory fish.
“We have had some severe cuts in recent years, but nothing to compare with this,” Thorton said.
The most important river system in California for salmon, the Sacramento, has suffered a catastrophic drop in returning fish numbers. The disappointing homecoming has baffled biologists and created prophesies of doom for coastal communities tied to the fishing industry.
“The reason for the sudden collapse of the Sacramento fall chinook stock is not readily apparent. Ocean conditions have been poor, and there are a lot of things that can go wrong for salmon in fresh water,” said David Ortmann, vice chairman of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, in a press release.
The California Department of Fish and Game has announced probable closure of the now-open season on April 1. The bigger shoe drops on April 6, when the Pacific Fisheries Management Council plans to chose among four options, which range from no salmon fishing to the shortest ocean sport season ever.
Thorton is waiting to hear what the PFMC decides before pulling up anchor for the last time. There is one proposal the PFMC is considering for a 8- to 10-day sport season, surrounding Memorial Day and Labor Day weekends.
“Seventy percent of my business is salmon fishing. This will put me out of business for sure,” Thorton said.
Salmon season has been open since February, but nobody catches many salmon this time of year, even in good years, Thorton said.
The number of keeper salmon caught so far this year by all the Noyo Harbor boats could be counted on one hand with fingers left over.
Capt. Tim Gillespie of the Sea Hawk brought one very lucky fisherman to the newspaper for a picture of the rare early spring landing.
“That fish may be the only one anybody has caught so far this year,” said Thorton. “But that is not uncommon for this time of year.”
June through September is the prime local fishing season for the pink, delicious fish.
Thorton”s current salmon trips also allow anglers to pursue crab, which are readily available.
Fall run projection
The return of fall run Chinook to the Sacramento River is projected to be 58,200 under the option with all salmon fishing closed, and 52,400 under that one option that allows small fisheries in specific areas. The minimum conservation goal is 122,000 to 180,000 spawning adult salmon, the PFMC press release said.
As recently as 2002, 775,000 adults returned to spawn. At that time, many were declaring that fishery fixed. All problems seemed to be in the Klamath fishery.
The problem is now much bigger than the Klamath crisis, which brought disaster relief funds.
Thorton worries about the local and state economy.
“This is a big deal, it will be felt by the whole state,” he said. “I may be able to get some disaster relief, which probably will only help pay my bills but will be a big help. I have gotten that in the past.”
Salmon disasters take three years, the time most king salmon spend at sea, to unravel. That means the outmigrating class of 2005 are the fish now failing to come home. Three years ago, unexpected weather changes, tied to global climate change by many, caused the amount of food in the ocean to take a steep decline.
Some believe the cause is more immediate. In 2005, a real estate boom was under way and massive new housing developments in the Sacramento Valley were approved. Water diversion to farms is also blamed by many.
Internet columnist Dan Bacher, considered among the most knowledgeable on the issue outside the scientific community, listed his reasons:
“The number one cause of the delta fish decline is increases in water exports, followed by invasive species and toxics,” wrote Bacher.
Groundfish cutbacks
Thorton has run sportfishing expeditions for 20 years. Eleven years ago he bought the Telestar and recently made the last payment. He once fished 200 days out of the year, with the most time spent on rockfish, the species that kept anglers happy in March and April in years past.
Fishing for groundfish (also called rockfish) has also seen severe cutbacks over the past year, a first for that sport, which has enjoyed far less restrictions than salmon in years past. These include shallow water rockfish, cabezon, sculpins and lingcod.
Studies of this fishery, once believed to be forever hardy, have shown it to be vulnerable to overfishing.
“I don”t know about the salmon population yet but from my point of view I don”t see any reason why I shouldn”t be shut down,” Thornton said.
“There is not a shortage of the rock cod here and sport fishing definitely would not be a threat to any of the populations.”
With so many problems with fishing, many have turned to environmental expeditions, which translates to whale watching in the Fort Bragg area.
Thorton doesn”t depend on whale watching, as every other boat is competing for that business. Most charter captains agree that whale watching is a much slimmer business than fishing.
“There really isn”t enough whale watching to go around,” said Thorton.
There will be salmon for sale this year in stores, as farmed salmon has increased greatly especially in places like China. Farmed salmon must be dyed to appear pink.
One group likely to feel the impact is the World”s Largest Salmon Barbecue, which cooks only wild salmon each July 4th weekend in support of restoration causes. The Salmon Restoration Association was to meet this week to discuss options.
Seasons for northern Oregon and Washington will also be drastically more limited than usual. The council will select a final option at their next meeting in Seattle, Wash., on April 6
The PFMC has requested a multi-agency task force led by the National Marine Fisheries Service”s West Coast Science Centers to research about 50 potential causative areas and report back to the council at the September meeting in Boise, Idaho.
Weak coho returns
The forecast for returns of coho stocks in Washington and Oregon is also weak. Options range from 10 to 20 percent of last year”s catch. Catching coho is illegal in Northern California, where it is a protected species.
For coastal waters off Oregon and California (south of Cape Falcon to the U.S./Mexico border), the options for commercial and recreational fishing range from no salmon fishing for chinook or coho, to allowing a small fishery of coho off central Oregon and short seasons in selected areas for chinook.
As recently as 2003, fishermen caught as many as 944,000 chinook and 84,000 coho.
The three detailed options adopted by the council for the 2008 salmon season for public comment, and a schedule of meetings seeking public comment, will be posted on the council”s Website in the near future, the press release stated.
The following Websites contain pertinent information:
The Pacific Fishery Management Council: http://www.pcouncil.org.
Geographical points used in salmon management:
http://www.pcouncil.org/facts/geosalmon.pdf
