Long-sought repairs could disrupt fishing

May 14, 2008

By Nicholas Grube

Triplicate staff writer

It's true, sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.

The Del Norte County Board of Supervisors came to this realization Tuesday after learning the upcoming fall chinook season on the Klamath River might conflict with the completion of a long-standing project meant to ease anglers onto the waterway.

"There's no simple answer to this," District 5 Supervisor David Finigan said during a meeting in which he heard that fixing the Roy Rook Boat Launch would likely interfere with what is expected to be a busy fishing season.

With the closure of ocean salmon fisheries due to the collapse of the Sacramento River chinook population, the Klamath and Trinity Rivers are the only non-restricted, major salmon fisheries in the state.

Representatives from the California Department of Fish and Game who came to the board meeting in Klamath said Del Norte County can expect an influx of anglers this year because of these restrictions and a large catch allotment for in-river, recreational fishing.

"The good news here is due to the restrictions off shore and the reduced fishing opportunities, there will be a larger return (of salmon) to the Klamath because of those restrictions," said Larry Hanson, the Department of Fish and Game's project leader on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers . "There's going to be a lot of folks here looking to capitalize on these opportunities."

Fish and Game will allow recreational fishermen to catch 22,500 chinook on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers during the fall season. This does not include the 27,000 allotted for the tribes.

"That's a pretty good quota," California Department of Fish and Game Associate Fisheries Biologist Sara Borok said. "That's the second largest quota of the last 30 years."

And with the state of other fisheries this year, Borok said, "We are pretty much the only game in town."

With the seemingly good news from Borok and Hanson about local fishing, supervisors expressed excitement for the anticipated economic boom.

But not long after Supervisor Finigan told Klamath residents and business owners to "get out the brooms" and "get out the lawn mowers" to greet incoming anglers, the elation was moored by the Roy Rook Boat Launch.

"Basically we have two things that come together that are both good things," Del Norte's Assistant County Administrative Officer Jay Sarina said after the supervisors meeting. "Either one's going to override the other or we'll work something out that will make it less of an impact."

The county has been working for more than a year and a half to fix the Roy Rook Boat Launch. It is one of the only public access points to the Lower Klamath River , and was severely damaged in December 2005 when winter storms caused widespread flooding and mudslides. People can still use the ramp, however, but boat trailers tend to drop off the ramp when the river is low.

That same storm damaged the Klamath Townsite Boat Ramp, rendering it completely unusable.

On Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors was ready to accept a bid for work to fix the Roy Rook Boat Launch, but construction can only take place July 1 to Oct. 15 due to restrictions that protect the endangered coho salmon population in the Klamath River .

"That's the only time we're allowed to construct this ramp and be in the water," Sarina said, adding that construction is expected to take five to six weeks, and would likely cross into the fall chinook season.

Mark Warner of the American Fishing Foundation, a non-profit that advocates for recreational fishing, urged the board to delay work on the Roy Rook Boat Launch to allow anglers the opportunity for full use during the season.

"To start this project, you're more likely to fail than if you do not," Warner said. "Construction projects never seem to be completed on time ... any change in condition that would push this project into the fishing season would complicate things."

Warner said he expects a 100 percent increase in the number of fishing guides on the Klamath and Trinity Rivers this year due to the restrictions elsewhere in the state, and added the board should consider this when making its decision.

"We represent a lot of professional fishing guides ... Most people, guide-wise, are coming to the Klamath this year," he said. "I recommend that the board hold over the project until next year."

The representatives from the California Department of Fish and Game made the same suggestion to the board, but Finigan, whose district includes Klamath, said he did not want to table a project that is already underway.

"I am extremely reluctant to put off an action on fixing a boat ramp that this community has been begging for for years," he said. "I would ask that we not close the door on the boat ramp today."

By putting construction off for one year, Finigan said both the Roy Rook Boat Launch and Klamath Townsite ramp would be under construction at the same time.

"You're going to be talking about two ramps that are going to be fixed next year. That could be good, that could be bad," he said. "There's no guarantee that the fish are not going to be there next year."

With this the Board of Supervisors asked county staff to find out if delaying construction on Roy Rook Boat Launch would have any adverse affects on permitting for next year or in securing funding, which is covered by state and federal emergency funds.

The supervisors also wanted to know if the July 1 start date for construction could be moved up to allow Roy Rook to be finished before the start of the fall chinook season.

Finigan said the decision on what to do will likely come down to economic impact.

"What ever's best for the economy is what the Board of Supervisors is going to do."

Reach Nicholas Grube at ngrube@triplicate.com.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
NOTE: In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, any copyrighted
material  herein is distributed without profit or payment to those who have
expressed  a  prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit
research and  educational purposes only. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml

Source: http://www.triplicate.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=8711