Fishermen fear lost salmon season

North Coast sport and commercial fishermen fear they might lose this spring's salmon season, a mere two years after federal officials declared the same fishery a disaster.

"When they start talking about no fishing at all, that's obviously a concern," said Chuck Wise, a Bodega Bay fisherman and president of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.

"It would be devastating to the charter boats in Bodega Bay," said Rick Powers, the skipper of the New Sea Angler. Powers' vessel and other charter boats provide ocean salmon fishing trips for sport anglers.

The possible fishing closure is tied to reports of a dramatic drop in the number of adult chinook salmon returning to spawn in the Sacramento River, the state's most productive salmon river. About 90,000 adult chinook returned this fall to the Sacramento, the fewest since 1992.

Federal regulators suggested in a press release that they might be unable to conserve enough Sacramento salmon this year "even without any commercial or recreational salmon fishing where these fish are found."

The regulators will meet in early April in Seattle to devise season rules and recommend them to the U.S. secretary of commerce.

The state's commercial fishery has declined sharply during the past two decades, even as the number of salmon raised worldwide in aquaculture, or fish farms, has grown exponentially. More than 2,500 commercial vessels landed salmon in California in 1988, compared with fewer than 500 in 2006, the most recent year of record.

That year, the federal Pacific Fisheries Management Council sharply curtailed fishing because of low salmon stocks from the Klamath River north of Eureka. The federal government eventually provided $64 million in relief for West Coast fishermen and related industries.

Now, attention is turned to the Sacramento, from which come the majority of salmon caught in both California and Oregon.

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, who sponsored the disaster relief legislation, said Wednesday that a fishing ban on salmon this year could cost West Coast fishing ports upwards of $80 million.

"It's terrible news for both the fish and the industry," Thompson said.

If the fishery is once more declared a disaster, Thompson said he again will seek aid for the fishermen.

State and federal officials are reporting low salmon runs this year from California to British Columbia.

"As you go up and down the West Coast, there are not very many bright spots," said Harry Morse, spokesman for the state Department of Fish & Game.

Returning chinook salmon on the Russian River this fall numbered 1,900, compared with an average this decade of about 4,500, said Sean White, a fisheries biologist for the Sonoma County Water Agency.

Federal regulators said the reason for the decline is unclear but probably related to ocean conditions.

However, Zeke Grader, executive director of the federation of fishermen's associations, maintained the decline is much sharper on the Sacramento than other rivers. Water diversions for farms and cities "is at least a major cause" of the problems in the river system, he said.

"We've just taken too much water out," Grader said.

Despite the grim outlook for this season, fishermen maintained the declines aren't permanent.

"I fully expect these fish to bounce back," said Chris Lawson, president of the Fisherman's Marketing Association of Bodega Bay. Nonetheless, he said, "I'm concerned with the season we're going to get this year."

You can reach Staff Writer Robert Digitale at 521-5285 or robert.digitale@pressdemocrat

.com.