The ocean salmon season debate

Casey Allen

For The Times-Standard

April 6, 2008

It was a good turn out at the public hearing on salmon season options. Over 150 people in attendance forced Red Lion employees to open folding doors to expand the meeting to two full rooms. The Meeting was scheduled by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to hear public comment on the three fishing options the Council will decide from, later this month. For sport fishermen there is really only one choice, ten days of fishing spread over the three summer holiday's.

Everyone was confused at the graphs presented, showing where the salmon populations are today compared to previous years. One presenter simply pointed to the bottom of the graph and said, “we are here,” with little explanation. Another had so much trouble with the overhead slide display it made me wonder, especially when the comment was made, “see this spike on the graph from last year? That is not really a spike. It is actually an indication of the continuing decline of salmon. We should not have fished last year and we should not fish this year.” There was a collective groan from the crowd.

Once the testimony began, I was surprised there was no response from the panel. They simply called the next speakers name. There were two PFMC members and two Coast Guard officers on the panel. I never learned why the Coast Guard was there.

Most of the people testifying forgot the purpose of the meeting and suggested other season alternatives or voiced their frustration at management officials, blaming them for the lack of salmon.

Some thought is was poor ocean conditions in 2005 and 2006 that caused the collapse. Others said it was state budget cuts that caused the hatchery to release smolts in the Sacramento River at the wrong place and time, resulting in thousands of fish being pumped into irrigation ditches. People blamed the condition of the Delta, the lack of plankton which the smolts feed on. Others sited the predatory species like striped bass, sea lions, and cormorants.

A commercial fisherman said the practice of trucking Sacramento River smolts to San Francisco Bay to be raised in pens was a huge success. He said the ocean was full of nice big salmon those years. Now, he said it would be more lucrative to collect un employment or aluminum cans than compete for the proposed 3,000 fish commercial limit.

Many speakers were worried the few days open for fishing, over holiday weekends, would be ruined by rough weather. Or it would force boaters to fish in rougher seas than is safe. That was an argument made by the DFG at the bottom fish meetings. Someone suggested they should leave open the shallow waters (where yelloweye rockfish don't live) to recreational boaters. It was rejected by the DFG because it would force boaters into unsafe waters.

It was also pointed out that the boat ramps would be overcrowded. The solution was agreed to by everyone with a show of hands at the end of the meeting. A personal punch card allowing each angler 10 fish for the entire season would spread the fishing opportunity over a greater span of time. It would not only be safer and less crowded, but would help the local charter boat and travel industry.

Again, it was too late for that kind of change in our choices but the Council had to be impressed with the crowd and their alliance.

I learned at this meeting how complicated fisheries management can be. I also realized, not only the importance of good data, but the importance of data everyone can understand.

A few short years ago, hatchery personnel would argue that hatchery fish were genetically the same as wild fish. Experienced fishermen knew better, by the way hatchery fish fight against the rod. Now, the opinion is that there are differences and that hatchery fish are a danger to wild fish by taking up space, displacing the wild fish.

I always thought the difference was hatchery fish had it easy being raised in cement troughs while wild fish were raised in the river. Those that survived were tougher fish. And what happens when two hatchery fish spawn in the wild river. Are their offspring then considered wild?

It was obvious everyone at this meeting wants healthy fish stocks and I believe we should be more involved in finding solutions besides simply not fishing. Next week, I'll share a possible solution to our rockfish problems and all it takes is money.

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Source:  http://www.times-standard.com/localsports/ci_8828629