[env-trinity] Fall 2014 Sacramento and Klamath salmon return numbers released

[Dan Bacher]

Photo: Protest by the Klamath Justice Coalition and members of the  
Hoopa Valley, Yurok, Karuk and Winnemem Wintu Tribes to pressure the  
Bureau of Reclamation to release cold water down the Trinity River  
last year to prevent a massive fish kill on the lower Klamath. Photo  
by Dan Bacher.







http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/02/23/1366249/-Sacramento-and-Klamath-salmon-returns-released

http://www.fishsniffer.com/blogs/details/sacramento-and-klamath-salmon-return-numbers-for-2014-released/

Fall 2014 Sacramento and Klamath salmon return numbers released

by Dan Bacher

As anglers get ready for the upcoming ocean and river salmon seasons,  
the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) revealed that 212,000  
adult fall-run Chinook salmon returned to spawn in the Sacramento  
River and its tributaries in 2014.

About 10,000 adult salmon returned to the San Joaquin River system,  
including the Cosumnes, Mokelumne, Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced  
rivers.

The 2014 adult salmon return, or escapement, exceeds the minimum  
conservation goal set by fishery managers of 122,000 to 180,000 fish.

Representatives of fishing groups, including the Golden Gate Salmon  
Association (GGSA), are "cautiously optimistic" about the outlook for  
upcoming ocean and river salmon seasons.

Another 25,359 two year olds, called "jacks" or "jills" by the  
California Department of Fish and Wildlife, returned to the Sacramento  
Basin.  These sub-adults are capable of spawning, just like the adults  
are. The state and federal scientists use the "jack" and "jill" return  
numbers to develop models of salmon abundance for upcoming fishing  
seasons.

"Only a relatively small percentage of jacks come in from the ocean,  
with the rest staying out at sea one more year," said John McManus,  
Executive Director of the Golden Gate Salmon Association. "The number  
of returning jacks is multiplied to calculate the expected number of  
three year old adult fish out in the ocean."

"The 2014 jack count is about 25 percent higher than the 2013 jack  
count," he explained. "Although the multiplier that’s applied changes  
slightly from year to year, a layman’s analysis suggests there could  
be about 25 percent more three-year-olds in the ocean now than the  
600,000 estimated at this time last year. This suggests there could be  
close to 800,000 adult salmon forecast for 2015."

The official 2015 forecast will be announced by state officials at a  
California Department of Fish and Wildlife informational meeting  
February 26 in Santa Rosa. This number will be used by the Pacific  
Fishery Management Council to propose times and areas where ocean  
salmon fishing will be allowed off the California coast, according to  
McManus.

The Council will finalize setting the 2015 season by April.  As of  
now, the sport salmon season is set to open on Saturday April 4 off  
the California coast south of Horse Mountain, near Shelter Cove in  
southern Humboldt County.

"Things look relatively good on the Klamath River," noted McManus.  
"There, fishery managers were shooting for a minimum escapement of  
40,700 natural adult spawners.  Instead they ended up with more than  
twice that at 95,330. Another 31,000 adult salmon returned to the  
hatchery."

The Klamath River barely avoided a massive fish kill like the one that  
took place September 2002, due to direct action and protests by the  
Klamath Justice Coalition and members of the Hoopa Valley, Yurok,  
Karuk and Winnemem Wintu Tribes, along with lobbying and litigation by  
the Tribes and fishing groups, to release cold water from Trinity  
River to cool down water temperatures on the Klamath last summer and  
fall.

The release of the PFMC data took place as water rights attorney and  
California Water Impact Network (C-WIN) Board Member Mike Jackson  
warned of the tremendous environmental and economic damage that would  
result from approval of the Temporary Urgency Change Petitions to  
increase Delta water exports now before the State Water Resources  
Control Board.

He said that 95 percent of endangered winter run Chinook salmon  
perished last year, due to poor management by the U.S. Bureau of  
Reclamation - and another massive fish kill could take place this   
year if the state and federal water agencies mismanage Central Valley  
rivers and dams and the Delta pumps like they did last year.

"Evidently after the Bureau of Reclamation’s killing of 95% of the  
endangered winter-run salmon last year, the Federal government has  
decided to propose a much worse water plan for 2015," said Jackson.  
"It’s a much more complicated plan, but if it is approved by the  
California Water Board it may send both the endangered salmon and  
Delta smelt to extinction. We will find out soon if the Governor’s  
office intervenes with the Water Board to help finish off the fish.”

“Once again, Senator Feinstein (D-Westlands) favors big agribusinesses  
on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley over the economic and  
environmental needs of the people who live in the Bay-Delta Estuary,"  
said Jackson. "Commercial salmon fishing is a $1.5 billion economy,  
Delta farming a $5.2 billion economy, and of course there are the  
millions of people who live in communities surrounding the estuary.  
With this drought, we are poised to lose Delta smelt, Winter-run  
salmon, and steelhead as these fisheries are collapsing."

How will the massive die of winter-run Chinook salmon impact this  
year's salmon seasons? "Although we now know that federally protected  
winter run largely failed to reproduce in the wild in 2014 due to  
elevated river temperatures, fishing restrictions to further protect  
them likely won’t kick in until next year when they’re big enough to  
bite a bait," said McManus.

Complete information about the upcoming salmon seasons will be  
available at the CDFW salmon information meeting in Santa Rosa. The  
meeting is scheduled on Thursday, Feb. 26 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the  
Sonoma County Water Agency, 404 Aviation Blvd. in Santa Rosa.

"The public is encouraged to provide input on potential fishing  
seasons to a panel of California salmon scientists, managers and  
representatives who will be directly involved in the upcoming Pacific  
Fishery Management Council (PFMC) meetings in March and April,"  
according to the Department news release.(https://cdfgnews.wordpress.com/2015/02/05/cdfw-to-host-public-meeting-on-ocean-salmon-fisheries-2/ 
)

Meanwhile, Jerry Brown, the worst Governor for fish, water and the  
environment in recent California history, is rushing the Bay Delta  
Conservation Plan (BDCP) to build the peripheral tunnels, the most  
environmentally destructive public works project in California  
history. The tunnels would hasten the extinction of Sacramento River  
Chinook salmon, Central Valley steelhead, Delta and longfin smelt and  
green sturgeon, as well as imperil the salmon and steelhead  
populations on the Trinity and Klamath rivers.

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