Courtesy of SeafoodNews.com:
It’s déjà vu all over again, as they say.
Fishermen who recall the lack of salmon seasons in 2008 and 2009 will see something similar in 2023. Specifically, they will see no salmon season in California and a very, very small season in a part of Oregon this year. And already, officials are calling for disaster relief.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted recommendations for West Coast ocean salmon fishing last week. The seasons provide recreational and commercial opportunities in northern areas of the coast but include significant closures in southern portions of the coast to achieve conservation goals for the numerous salmon stocks, the Council said in a press release.
The recommendations will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service for approval by May 16, 2023.
“The forecasts for Chinook returning to California rivers this year are near record lows,” said Council Chair Marc Gorelnik said in the release. “The poor conditions in the freshwater environment that contributed to these low forecasted returns are unfortunately not something that the Council can, or has authority to, control.”
Washington and Northern Oregon (north of Cape Falcon)
The good news is in the north, with an increase in Chinook quota for both tribal and non-tribal commercial fisheries.
Fisheries north of Cape Falcon, in northern Oregon, are limited mainly by the need to constrain catch of lower Columbia River natural tule Chinook. Additionally, two natural coho stocks meet the criteria for either overfished (Queets River) or not overfished/ rebuilding (Strait of Juan de Fuca), which is also a concern when the Council structured 2023 fisheries.
North of Cape Falcon, the overall non-tribal total allowable catch is 78,000 Chinook coastwide (compared to 58,000 last year) and 190,000 marked hatchery coho (compared to 75,000 last year).
The tribal ocean fishery structure is similar to past years with a spring season focused on Chinook and a summer fishery focused on both Chinook and coho. The quotas are 45,000 Chinook salmon (compared to 40,000 last year) and 57,000 coho (compared to 52,000 last year).
The non-tribal ocean commercial fishery north of Cape Falcon includes the traditional seasons in the spring (May-June) for Chinook and in the summer (July-September) for Chinook and coho. The Chinook quota is 39,000 (compared to 27,000 last year) and the coho quota is 30,400 marked coho (compared to 32,000 last year).
Oregon (south of Cape Falcon) and California
Fisheries south of Cape Falcon are limited mainly by the low abundance forecasts for Klamath River and Sacramento River fall Chinook, the Council said. This year’s season is significantly reduced or closed to fishing to keep fishing impacts minimal given the critically low abundance forecasts for these key California Chinook stocks of concern.
Oregon trollers will see no salmon fishery in the summer. Oregon ocean commercial fisheries from Cape Falcon to Humbug Mountain will open September 1 and continue through October. A limited coho season will also occur in September with a 10,000 non marked coho quota. Beginning October 1, the fishery is open shoreward of the 40-fathom regulatory line.
All commercial fisheries in both the Oregon and California Klamath Management Zones are closed for the 2023 season.
California ocean salmon commercial fisheries in all areas from the Oregon/California border to the U.S./Mexico border are closed given the low abundance forecasts for both Klamath and Sacramento River fall Chinook.
“This has been another challenging year for the Council, its advisors, fishery stakeholders, and the public, to say the least,” Council Executive Director Merrick Burden said. “The economic impact of closing a good portion of the West Coast ocean salmon fishery will negatively impact the people that participate in the fishery, and the small businesses in coastal communities that rely on the salmon fishery.”
Call for federal disaster relief
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., held a press conference in San Francisco on Good Friday, promising Congress will work to get relief to the struggling salmon fisheries.
“My colleagues in Congress and I are going to go to work to make sure that Secretary Gina Raimondo quickly follows up with that federal declaration,” Huffman was quoted as saying in a Press Democrat news story. “In years past, some of you know that it has sometimes taken a long time to get that disaster relief to the people who need it,” he said. “In some cases, it has taken two years or more. That’s not going to work right now.”
The promise comes on the heels of a letter California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office already prepared to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo to get the ball rolling for federal aid.
Acting Governor Eleni Kounalakis, on behalf of Governor Newsom, submitted the request on Thursday. The agency must first approve the request, then Congress must appropriate the funds.
“Countless families, coastal communities and tribal nations depend on salmon fishing – it’s more than an industry, it’s a way of life. That’s why we’re requesting expedited relief from the federal government,” Gov. Newsom said in a press release. “We’re committed to working with the Biden Administration and Congress to ensure California’s fisheries aren’t left behind.
” … California projects a loss for the 2023 season of over $45 million from a closure of the [Sacramento River fall Chinook] and [Klamath River fall Chinook] commercial and recreational ocean fisheries,” Kounalakis wrote in the letter. “This estimate does not account for the full impact to California’s communities as it does not include economic impacts to inland salmon fisheries.”
Fishermen, many of whom saw the dire numbers and forecasts for the Sacramento and Klamath rivers, supported the Council’s decision but blamed the drought, dams and recent water diversion decisions for the problems with salmon and the river systems. Ironically, work has started to remove four Klamath River dams that should improve salmon access to miles of free-flowing river again by 2025.
“To California’s salmon fishing communities, we’re working to get you expedited relief,” Lt. Gov. Kounalakis said in the statement. “The [disaster declaration] we’re requesting today is vital to supporting our coastal regions, and we look forward to getting families the help they need.”