Ocean fishing shutdown possible as few chinook return to Sacramento

[depakid]

The Ginny G heads out of Charleston harbor, south of Coos Bay, for a day of salmon fishing last spring.
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A record low return of fall chinook salmon to the Sacramento River last year means a probable shutdown of most of Oregon and California commercial ocean salmon fishing for the second consecutive year, officials said Wednesday. Typically, the Sacramento fish head north by the millions when they leave the northern California river, making them the bread and butter for ocean salmon fishing off California and Oregon.

Last summer, poor chinook returns in 2007 helped shut down commercial salmon fishing in the ocean below Cape Falcon, south of Seaside, and severely curtailed ocean sport fishing and tourism in some ports.

In a new report, the Pacific Fishery Management Council estimates that Sacramento chinook returns reached a historic low last year of 66,264 fish, despite the ocean fishing closure. That number will influence the council's decision in the spring on how to manage the fishery in 2009. "It looks like we're facing another situation like 2008, where commercial fishing south of Cape Falcon is going to be very, very limited, if any," said Michael Carrier, Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski's natural resource adviser. "It's very disconcerting, but it's what I've been expecting for some time."

Before last year's closure -- the largest salmon fishing shutdown ever off the Oregon and California coasts -- the state predicted Oregon would suffer a $45 million hit and the loss of 763 jobs. The state requested federal aid then and probably will again this year, Carrier said.

But the fishery, which relies on salmon runs that are in long-term decline across the West, is a fraction of what it once was. Only 194 vessels fished commercially for salmon off the entire West Coast last year, down four-fifths from more than 1,000 in 2007. And the value of Oregon's ocean salmon fishery was about 3 percent of the average from 1979 to 1990, according to the council. Those numbers aren't likely to improve.

On the positive side, returns of coho salmon along Oregon's coast look fairly strong -- about 165,700 naturally spawning coastal coho returned last year, the highest number since 2005. The relatively strong coho numbers mean recreational anglers and sportfishing charter boats, which focus on coho, are not as likely to be as restricted on salmon fishing as they were last year, said Steve Williams, deputy fish administrator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife.

"Coho are going to be the bright spot this coming year," Williams said. "We're going to have some good opportunities in the Columbia River and along the coast." About 1.3 million fish are predicted to come up the Columbia in 2009, Carrier said.

More: http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2009/02/ocean_fishing_shutdown_possibl.html

[FreakinDJ]

1. The results of Bush's Exc Order redistributing water

I think they are dreaming about the Columbia river too