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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=4 color=black face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:black;font-weight:bold'>Fishing
Ban Is Among 3 Options Panel Is Considering to Save Klamath Salmon<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><b><font size=4
color=black face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
color:black;font-weight:bold'>Los Angeles</span></font></b></st1:City></st1:place><b><font
size=4 color=black face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
color:black;font-weight:bold'> Times – 3/9/06<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:14.0pt'><b><font size=4 color=black
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:black;
font-weight:bold'>By Eric Bailey, Times Staff Writer</span></font></b><font
size=4 color=black><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=4 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>SACRAMENTO</span></font></st1:City><font
size=4 color=black><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'> — Facing a
salmon shortage on the ailing <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place>, a
fishing advisory board Wednesday sketched out ways to slash this year's West
Coast salmon catch that range from cutting the season by more than half to
adopting an outright ban.<br>
<br>
The Pacific Fishery Management Council asked its staff to return Friday with a
review of three potential options, all of them met with dismay by fishermen
already hard-hit by a shortened 2005 season.<a
href="http://altfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/4608-23280-1944-47?mpt=bzfNdpl,bcbaNvtwitRl"
title="http://altfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/4608-23280-1944-47?mpt=bzfNdpl,bcbaNvtwitRl"><font
color="#163f68"><span style='color:#163F68;text-decoration:none'><img border=0
width=2 height=1 id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image001.gif@01C64390.59BF78F0"
alt="Click here for Air New Zealand's latest Web Offers!"
title="http://altfarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/4608-23280-1944-47?mpt=bzfNdpl,bcbaNvtwitRl"></span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>"Last season was the most restrictive
on record," said Duncan MacLean, president of the Half Moon Bay
Fishermen's Marketing Assn. "This year we're hoping we just have some sort
of season. But it's not going to be easy pulling a rabbit out of that
hat." <br>
<br>
During an average year, salmon fishing in <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>
and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place> is
a $150-million industry. The commercial mainstay is the silver-sided Chinook
that return each fall from the sea to spawn. Experts say a commercial ban could
put struggling coastal fishing fleets financially underwater. <br>
<br>
The fishery council, which acts as an advisory board for federal regulators who
will decide the fate of this year's salmon season, is meeting in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Seattle</st1:City></st1:place> this week and
expects by Friday to complete three options for public review during the coming
month. <br>
<br>
On Tuesday, an official with the National Marine Fisheries Service — the
agency involved in the final decision — told the council there appeared
to be few options other than a ban.<br>
<br>
Fishermen, however, say they hope a compromise can be reached that will allow a
short season. <br>
<br>
A ban, the most onerous proposal the council is considering, would cancel the
salmon season from near <st1:State w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State>'s northern
boundary to Point Sur, just south of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Carmel</st1:City></st1:place>.<br>
<br>
A typical season runs about six months, beginning in the spring.<br>
<br>
The council also is considering allowing commercial fishing boats to put to sea
about as often as they did last year, when the fleets were left at the dock for
the late spring and early summer months that are considered best.<br>
<br>
In between is a third option, which would likely allow fishermen on the water
roughly half as long as they were in 2005.<br>
<br>
The trouble lies with the Klamath River, which rises from the snowmelt of the
Cascade Range and empties into the ocean north of <st1:City w:st="on">Eureka</st1:City>,
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Calif.</st1:State></st1:place> <br>
<br>
During spring 2002 and again the next year, upward of 80% of the juvenile fish
returning to sea from the <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place> succumbed
to a parasite scientists blame on a combination of low river flows, pollution
and overheated water.<br>
<br>
"Simply put," said MacLean, "the river is killing its
young."<br>
<br>
Environmentalists have blamed the current troubles on the Bush administration,
which in recent years has allowed larger irrigation diversions from the Klamath
for upriver farmers.</span></font><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:
Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><em><i><font size=3 color=gray
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker</span></font></i></em></st1:PersonName><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends of <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
River</st1:place></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Advisor, California Trout, Inc</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>PO Box</span></font></i></em></st1:Street><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'> 2327</span></font></i></em></st1:address><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><em><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></em></st1:City><em><i><font
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='color:gray'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></em></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810 ph</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 9562 fx</span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net">bwl3@comcast.net</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org">bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><a href="http://www.fotr.org">http://www.fotr.org</a></span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><em><i><u><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue'>http:www.caltrout.org</span></font></u><font
color=lime><span style='color:lime'> </span></font></i></em><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> </span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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