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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"></SPAN></FONT></B><B><FONT
face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Are
they late or missing?</SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">SALMON
RUNS:<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns =
"urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:place w:st="on"><B><FONT
face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Central
Valley</SPAN></FONT></B></st1:place><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">
salmon largely absent from fall run - but why?<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">San
Francisco Chronicle – 10/30/07<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">By
Jane Lay, staff writer</SPAN></FONT></B><B><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">This
year's <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> fall salmon run is
worrying both fishermen and biologists, who say fewer of the prized chinook are
out in the ocean or making it up the rivers to
spawn.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">By this
time, usually tens of thousands more fish are being hooked by fishermen or are
swimming through the Golden Gate to the tributaries of <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Bay</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. Upstream, the fish spawn in the same
rivers where they were born, carrying on the generations of silvery king
salmon.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Yet
commercial fishermen who hunt for salmon in the ocean from <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Monterey</st1:place></st1:City> to Bodega before
the fish start their journey up the rivers report the worst salmon fishing in
decades.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Fisheries
biologists in Northern California who count the salmon that return up the
American, Feather and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:place></st1:City> rivers are seeing a big decline in
fish for this time of year. Some runs might have as few as 20 to 25 percent of
the fish normally expected by this time of year, data
show.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The salmon
run could just be a little late this year, say state Fish and Game Department
officials. <STRONG>On the Klamath and <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity
river</st1:place> systems, biologists say the salmon are about three to four
weeks late, but they think the fish will come
eventually.<o:p></o:p></STRONG></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The exact
cause of the apparent drop in fall-run salmon is not yet clear, although some
experts blame the way the state manages its water supply in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta. Rushes of fresh water can signal fish to start migrating
upstream, but meager flows also can hurt the survival of baby fish that
eventually will return as adults. Low levels of krill, tiny marine invertebrates
that the fish eat, also could be to blame, experts
said.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">In
tributaries like <st1:City w:st="on">Battle Creek</st1:City>, an important
salmon spawning ground off the <st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento
River</st1:place>, there is cause for concern. By now, about three-quarters of
the fall run would have passed by the weir where Fish and Game officials count
the fish. Usually, the creek's run is between 50,000 and 100,000 fish at this
time; so far, there have only been 20,000 spawning chinook, said Randy Benthin,
a senior fisheries biologist for Fish and Game. <o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">And on the
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Yuba</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, only 54 salmon have
returned so far, down from a total of 3,842 fish in 2003. The <st1:place
w:st="on">Feather River</st1:place> has one-third of the fish it usually has at
this time of year, according to state statistics.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The
Pacific Fishery Management Council, a regulatory body that sets limits on
commercial fishing, had predicted a lackluster year for the <st1:place
w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> fall run. Of the four runs in the bay, the
fall run is the largest. Fish and Game has set a goal of 120,000 to 180,000
spawning fish every fall, and in recent years has met that
goal.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Zeke
Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's
Associations, said the low fish counts are particularly worrisome because of the
extra limits placed on fishing in recent years. Those limits were specifically
aimed at boosting the number of fish that return to spawn on the <st1:place
w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">He blamed
problems with moving water around the delta. The lack of krill in the ocean may
have exacerbated the meager runs, he said.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The Sonoma
County Water Agency, which this summer urged growers and residents to cut water
use by 20 percent due to dry conditions, issued a statement Monday decrying the
dearth of salmon returning to the <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Russian</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType>, which depends on flows from the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Eel</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"Right now
by this time in the year, we should have about 500 fish" passing the counting
equipment at <st1:place w:st="on">Forestville</st1:place>. "In our best year (of
record keeping), we had 2,500 at this point. Just now we're just over 100," said
Sean White, a county fisheries biologist.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The water
agency is concerned that people are fishing at the mouth of the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Russian</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, capturing the few fish that are
heading up to spawn.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Seabird
expert Bill Sydeman, who recently founded the Farallon Institute for Advanced
Ecosystem Research in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Petaluma</st1:place></st1:City>, said he is working on models that
link seabird health with abundance of the salmon. The fish and birds feed on
krill, lots of zooplankton and young rockfish attracted by nutrient-rich
waters.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The
conditions that salmon face in their first and second years have a bearing on
whether they live to spawn at age 3.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Krill
numbers were lower in 2006 and 2005 than they had been in 2001 and 2002, for
example, Sydeman said. "It's not surprising to me that there are low salmon
returns in 2007."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Oceanographers
at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been studying ocean
conditions for decades. They link good years for salmon with vigorous upwelling
of cold, deep, nutrient-rich water to the ocean's surface and the influx of cold
Alaskan waters that bring in krill and other sea
life.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">This year
the upwelling and transport of cold Alaskan waters were strong. Then the mixing
slowed down. The surface water has been warmer than usual in the California
Current, the swath of water moving between <st1:State w:st="on">Baja
California</st1:State> and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">British
Columbia</st1:place></st1:State>, and it can hold down the upwelling, the
scientists say. And scientists report a relatively poor year for <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State> and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State> salmon.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"We're
trying to understand what's going on out there," said Frank Schwing, an
oceanographer with NOAA's <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Southwest</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Fisheries</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Science</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Center</st1:PlaceType> in La Jolla (<st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Diego</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>).<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The
scientists are trying to figure out whether there is a regime of cold and then
warmer-water decades - or whether global warming could be throwing off the
predicted regimes.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"One of
the ideas is that global climate change will introduce greater extremes and much
more variability into the climate. In reality, it's going to take a couple of
decades. Then we can look back and see what the patterns were," Schwing said.
#<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><A
href="">http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/10/30/MNAAT2VTR.DTL</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>