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<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Salmon supply is
collapsing, officials say; Number of fish that returned to spawn in the
<?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
/><st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place> this past year is down by 67
percent<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"
/><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Associated Press
– 1/30/08<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">By Terence Chea,
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><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">SAN
FRANCISCO</SPAN></FONT></st1:City></st1:place><FONT face="Times New Roman"
color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"> -- The
state's largest salmon run is suffering an "unprecedented collapse," part of a
broader decline throughout the West that has scientists vexed and likely will
trigger severe fishing restrictions, according to federal fishery regulators.
<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 number
of chinook, or king, salmon returning from the Pacific Ocean to spawn in the
<st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place> and its tributaries this past
fall dropped 67 percent from a year earlier, according to an internal memo to
members of the Pacific Fishery Management Council. <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
Central Valley salmon population has fallen by more than 88 percent from its
high five years ago, when salmon restoration efforts in the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City></st1:place> watershed were
being touted as a wildlife management success story.
<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'">However,
recent years have seen salmon populations steadily dwindle in the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City></st1:place> and many other
western rivers, and scientists are trying to understand why.
<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'">Some say
they believe it's related to changes in the ocean linked to global warming.
Others blame the troubles in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place> on increased pumping of fresh water
from the Delta. <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 his
e-mail to members of the fishery management council, Executive Director Donald
McIsaac offered "an early alert to what at this point appears to be an
unprecedented collapse in the abundance of adult California Central Valley ...
fall Chinook salmon stocks." <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
magnitude of the low abundance ... is such that the opening of all marine and
freshwater fisheries impacting this important salmon stock will be questioned,"
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'">About
90,000 returning adult salmon were counted in the <st1:place w:st="on">Central
Valley</st1:place> in 2007, the second lowest number on record, the memo said.
The population was at 277,000 in 2006 and 804,000 five years ago.
<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'">It's the
second time in 35 years that the Central Valley has not met the agency's
conservation goal of 122,000 to 180,000 returning fish, according to the
council, which regulates <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Pacific</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> fisheries.
<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'">More
worrisome is that only about 2,000 2-year-old juvenile chinooks returned to the
<st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> last year, by far the lowest
number ever counted. On average, about 40,000 juveniles, or "jacks," return each
year. <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 low
number of juvenile salmon means this year's runs are likely to be even smaller.
<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'">Complete
statistics on other key salmon runs won't be available for two weeks, but
experts said it looks like a bad year for salmon elsewhere in the West.
<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'">Ron Boyce,
a salmon program manager for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said
the <st1:place w:st="on">Rogue River</st1:place> barely hit its goal of 20,000
fall chinook in 2006 and 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'">Coastal
rivers farther north are in even bigger trouble. <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><st1:State w:st="on"><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Oregon</SPAN></FONT></st1:State><FONT
face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">'s
<st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Coquille</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType> has seen steadily diminishing returns the past
three years, and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Siletz</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> farther north saw 500 fish, less
than 20 percent of the 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'">"This is a
large-scale phenomenon affecting chinook stocks and other species coastwide,"
Boyce said. "It appears for those northern <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State></st1:place> coast streams, we will not be able to
make escapement goals even without any fishing on them."
<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'">It is
difficult to point to a cause, but the fact that both hatchery and wild fish are
showing low returns points to the ocean and estuaries, where salmon spend most
of their lives, said Curt Melcher, deputy director of the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife. <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'">Last year
there were very unusual conditions in the ocean, Boyce said. Southwesterly winds
blew all summer, driving warm waters near shore and disrupting the marine food
chain. <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'">Some
fishers and environmentalists say they believe the sharp decline in Central
Valley chinook is related to increased water exports from the Delta, which
supplies drinking water to millions of people in drought-stricken Southern
California, as well as irrigation for <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>'s most fertile farming
region. <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'">"It's time
to reduce pumping of Delta waters before we destroy the fish and wildlife
species we appreciate so much in California," said Mike Sherwood, an attorney
for Oakland-based Earthjustice. <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'">Salmon
that spawn in Central Valley rivers form the backbone of the West Coast's
commercial and recreational salmon fishery and are caught by fishers from
Southern California to <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">British
Columbia</st1:place></st1:State>. <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'">More than
90 percent of the wild salmon harvested in <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State> originate in the <st1:place
w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place> system, officials say.
<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'">"<st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City></st1:place> fish are really
what the fishery depends on," said Chuck Tracy, the council's salmon management
officer. "When <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> fish are low, it
gets really hard to catch fish even if you're given the opportunity."
<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
council plans to meet in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City></st1:place> in March to discuss possible
restrictions, including a complete closure of the salmon season that begins in
May. Final decisions will be made at its meeting in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Seattle</st1:City></st1:place> in April.
<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'">"Even if
they have a salmon fishing season, there won't be very much salmon to catch
without a strong <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> component,"
said Alan Grover, a biologist with the state Department of 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'">Duncan
MacLean, a Half Moon Bay fisher who is on a team that advises the fishery
council, said he's bracing for hard times. <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'">"It's
probably going to be worse than anything we've experienced before," said
MacLean, 58, who relies on salmon fishing for as much as 70 percent of his
income. "It's going to put a lot of us out of business. I don't know how I am
going to be paying my bills through the summer." <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'">Dick Pool,
who owns Concord-based fishing gear manufacturer Pro-Troll, said the salmon
collapse will be felt in fishing communities all along the coast, noting that a
recent study found that recreational anglers spend more than $2 billion annually
in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>.
<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
impact is going to be huge," said Pool, a former board member of the American
Sportfishing Association. "It will take its toll on manufacturing, retailers,
wholesalers, fishermen and the charter fleet." <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
fishing industry is still reeling from severe limits on West Coast salmon
fishing in 2006 to protect dwindling populations on the Klamath River in
Northern California and <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>. <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'">After
three years of poor returns, the number of returning Klamath chinook in 2007
exceeded minimums set by federal fishery managers. Preliminary counts showed
about 50,000 spawners, though low numbers of juvenile fish indicate there may be
poor returns of adult salmon this year. <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
precipitous decline of <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> chinook
marks a dramatic reversal for what's traditionally been one of the West Coast's
most abundant salmon runs. <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'">After
hitting a record low of 83,000 returning adult salmon in 1992, <st1:place
w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place> salmon returns rose steadily during the
next decade as the state and federal government spent about $1 billion to
restore salmon runs throughout the river system. #<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><A
href="">http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_8117653?IADID=Search-www.contracostatimes.com-www.contracostatimes.com</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<H1 style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></H1>
<H1 style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></H1>
<H1 style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Salmon run verges on a collapse;
Sport and commercial fishing are in jeopardy<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></H1>
<H1 style="MARGIN: 0pt"><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Sacramento</SPAN></FONT></B></st1:place></st1:City><FONT
face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN lang=EN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">
Bee – 1/30/08<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></H1>
<H1 style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">By Matt Weiser, staff
writer</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></H1>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The <st1:place
w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place>'s fall chinook salmon population is
headed for a collapse, according to new federal data, threatening the upcoming
commercial and recreational fishing season on one of the country's most
important runs.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The fall chinook run in
the <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> has long been touted as a
conservation success story. As many other species declined, fall salmon spawning
in the <st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place> and its tributaries
held reliably above 200,000 fish for 15 years.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">But in fall 2007, the
number of spawners suddenly fell to just 90,414 fish, the second-lowest total
since 1973. That includes wild and hatchery-raised
fish.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The news came in a memo
e-mailed Monday from the director of the Pacific Fishery Management Council to
council board members.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The numbers are
preliminary and normally are not made public until February. But they represent
a steep drop from the 2006 return of about 270,000
chinook.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"It's frightening to
think how far we've fallen so quickly," said J.D. Richey, a salmon fishing guide
on the American River, a key tributary that contributes to the Valley's chinook
run. "It's pretty bleak."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Even more worrisome, the
count of 2-year-old chinook returning to spawn in 2007 was just 2,021 fish. That
is not just a record low, but also a mere fraction of 36-year average of about
40,000 fish. Early spawners, also called "jacks," are considered a reliable
indicator of the number of 3-year-old fish expected to spawn in the following
year.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">In addition, the 90,414
total falls below the council's minimum conservation target of 122,000 fish,
which may compel officials to shorten the 2008 fishing season both in the ocean
and in <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> rivers. The council meets
in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City></st1:place>
March 8-14 to begin that regulatory process for the season that begins in
May.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"The magnitude of the
low abundance … is such that the opening of all marine and freshwater fisheries
impacting this important salmon stock will be questioned," Donald McIsaac, the
council's executive director, wrote in the memo. He called the numbers "an early
alert to what at this point appears to be an unprecedented
collapse."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The Central Valley run
includes fish that spawn on the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>. But the vast majority of the fall
chinook spawn in the <st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place> and its
tributaries. These fish mainly range north in the Pacific Ocean, supporting the
fishing industry in <st1:State w:st="on">Washington</st1:State> and <st1:State
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:State> as well as <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">In 2006, the salmon
season was drastically curtailed to protect the smaller <st1:place
w:st="on">Klamath River</st1:place> chinook. With fishermen still recovering
from that, another reduction would sting.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"It's going to be
devastating," said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast
Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "It could mean no fishing at
all."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">It remains unclear why
the run fell off so sharply in 2007. But many indicators point to poor ocean
health, which may, in turn, be caused by factors linked to global warming,
according to researchers.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">For several years,
changes in wind patterns have halted or delayed deep upwelling currents in the
ocean. The upwelling drives a food cycle that produces plankton, which in turn
feed tiny shrimp-like krill. The krill, in turn, are the primary food for young
salmon spending their first year in the ocean.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The upwelling
disruptions may have contributed to a decline in krill along with their salmon
predators. Krill also feed a variety of seabirds, many of which also have
declined in number.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Other experts said they
believe poor environmental conditions in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta are to
blame. Six other fish species are declining there due to a combination of
near-record water exports, poor water quality and competition for food from
invasive species.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"It's just another piece
of evidence that our management of the rivers and the estuary are insufficient
to support these species," said Tina Swanson, senior scientist at the Bay
Institute. "We need to do better, and really
quickly."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Many anglers fear a
reduced season in 2008, but it may not be much worse than what they just went
through because of the poor chinook return.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Richey, for example, had
only 10 percent of the usual number of clients booking salmon trips on the
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">American</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> last
year.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"I basically just
stopped offering salmon (trips) because there wasn't anything to catch," he
said.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"To me, it just felt
like there was a void in the Valley. It was odd. I guess having the chinook was
something I've taken for granted all these years."
#<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><A
href="">http://www.sacbee.com/101/story/672392.html</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></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
arriving in record low numbers<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 – 1/30/08<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 Kay, 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'">The
<st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> fall run of chinook salmon
apparently has collapsed, portending sharp fishing restrictions and rising
prices for consumers while providing further evidence that the state's water
demands are causing widespread ecological damage.<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 bad
news for commercial and sport fishermen and the salmon-consuming public surfaced
Tuesday when a fisheries-management group warned that the numbers of the bay's
biggest wild salmon run had plummeted to near record
lows.<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 April,
the Pacific Fishery Management Council will set restrictions on the salmon
season, which typically starts in May. A shortage could drive up the price of
West Coast wild salmon. The council's leaders said the news is troubling because
normally healthy runs of <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> chinook
salmon are heavily relied upon by fishermen. Runs on the other river systems
historically have been smaller.<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 low
returns are particularly distressing since this stock has consistently been the
healthy 'workhorse' for salmon fisheries off California and most of Oregon," the
council's executive director, Donald McIsaac, said in a statement Tuesday.
<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'">At its
peak, the fall run has numbered hundreds of thousands of fish, exceeding 800,000
in some years. But this year the preliminary count has put the number at 90,000
adults returning to spawn in the <st1:City w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City> and
<st1:place w:st="on">San Joaquin</st1:place> rivers and their tributaries.
During the past decade, the number of returning fish has never fallen below
250,000.<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'">Through
the years, the chinook, or king, salmon that pass through <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Bay</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> have suffered from diversions of
freshwater to cities and farms, the operation of the water-export pumps that
send delta water to other regions, exposure to pollutants and warming ocean
conditions.<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've
known that the numbers were going to come in low, but we didn't know they would
be this low," said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast
Federation of Fishermen's Associations, which represents commercial
fishermen.<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
could end up closing us," Grader said. "Part of what we're trying to do is put a
fish on the table that people can afford."<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'">A few more
than 1,000 commercial fishermen who catch the Central Valley salmon in the ocean
from <st1:City w:st="on">Santa Barbara</st1:City> to southeast <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Alaska</st1:State></st1:place> received $40
million in federal relief funds two months ago. The fishermen were given the
funds for losses they incurred due to fishing restrictions in 2006 initiated to
protect the Klamath and <st1:place w:st="on">Trinity river</st1:place> runs that
were suffering from a lack of fresh river water. In addition, related businesses
received $20 million in aid.<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'">Grader,
along with representatives of most sport and environmental groups, attribute the
salmon decline primarily to <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> dams
that flood or block spawning grounds and the delta water pumps that move water
around the state.<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'">"Twenty
years ago, we identified the amount of additional freshwater we needed for
healthy fish," he said. A federal law was passed in 1988 to reserve water to
help fish, but the water only makes it as far as the delta - not out to the bay,
where it would help migrating fish like salmon, 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'">Pollution
that drains off farms also hurts the fish, Grader
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'">Heidi
Rooks, an environmental program manager in the Department of Water Resources,
said the salmon's woes probably are linked to the <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific
Ocean</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'">"Although
there are environmental challenges in the <st1:place w:st="on">Central
Valley</st1:place> and the delta, I'm concerned that ocean conditions, including
currents and food sources, are influencing our salmon populations as well," she
said. "We're working on habitat restoration, but it's not going to address ocean
conditions." <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'">Jeff
McCracken, a spokesman for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which runs the
federal part of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>'s water system, said he couldn't
comment on the preliminary salmon numbers. He said the federal system is
operated based on input from fisheries biologists.<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
economic impacts from the loss of salmon also would affect businesses associated
with sport fishing, including the boating, hotel and manufacturing
industries.<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 last
two years have been the worst salmon fishing years in all of <st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State> history," said Dick Pool, president and owner
of Pro-Troll Fishing Products in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Concord</st1:place></st1:City>, a company that makes salmon-fishing
equipment.<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 main
reason has been the collapse of the delta. The tiny little smolts aren't making
it the 100 miles from the rivers to the bay. As the water exports have increased
over the last five years, the food chain has been significantly affected," 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'">According
to the American Sportfishing Association, there are 2.4 million recreational
anglers in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>. The economic value of recreational
fishing and related activities reached $4 billion in 2001, according to the
association.<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
popular chinook salmon is the most recent of the fish that feed in the rivers,
delta and the bay to suffer a loss in numbers, said Tina Swanson, senior
scientist at the Bay Institute, an environmental
group.<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'">Delta
smelt, threadfin shad, longfin smelt and striped bass have declined in numbers
starting in the early 2000s, she said. "That's the same time that the salmon
that returned this year to spawn were going through the delta," she 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'">The five
highest water-export years have all occurred since 2000, she
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'">Today's
adult fish were migrating out to the ocean in 2005, the year the delta exports
hit a record high, Swanson 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'">Salmon are
hatched in the rivers and feed in the delta and bay. At three to four months,
they move to the ocean, where they feed near shore before they head for the open
ocean.<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'">"Dams
along the <st1:City w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City> and <st1:place w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:place> rivers are holding back water, and the flows are usually
less than what the salmon need," Swanson said. The low flows of freshwater to
the bay can also raise overall water temperatures beyond what is healthy for
juvenile salmon, she said. In the delta, the water pumps suck up salmon and
other fish. <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
pumping system moves the juvenile salmon into large, open areas of the delta,
where they are prey for bigger fish.<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'">Scientists
studying the decline in fish populations also consider the effect of the ocean
environment, although they agree that it is still too early to measure the
effects of global warming. They look at the timing of migrations and food
availability, said William Sydeman, a biologist with the Farallon Institutes for
Advanced Ecosystem Research.<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 found
that in 2005, 2006 and, to a lesser extent, in 2007, the breeding failures of
the Cassin's auklet on the Farallones could be linked to the demise of krill in
the marine environment at the time when the birds needed it.
<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'">Salmon,
too, feed on krill, anchovies and other small aquatic creatures, which are
affected in abundance by ocean conditions. <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'">When
salmon come through the bay to the ocean, they spend time in the Gulf of the
Farallones, the same as the Cassin's auklets, where they need to find sufficient
zooplankton and other food.<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 ocean
environment has a strong influence on how many survive the initial period at sea
and how many come back to spawn three to four years later in the Sacramento
River," Sydeman said. #<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><A
href="">http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/01/30/MNRIUOE8C.DTL</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#666666
size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #666666"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=#666666
size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #666666"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Salmon collapse
could force fishing restrictions; </SPAN></FONT></B><B><FONT face=Tahoma
size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Regulators issue
the warning as the number of chinook in the <st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento
River</st1:place> falls to historic lows<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Los
Angeles</SPAN></FONT></B></st1:place></st1:City><B><FONT face=Tahoma
size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> Times –
1/30/08<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">By Eric Bailey,
staff writer</SPAN></FONT></B><B><FONT color=#333333 size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: #333333"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN lang=EN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">SACRAMENTO -- -- Faced with an "unprecedented collapse"
of California's Central Valley salmon population, federal regulators warned
Tuesday that the West Coast fishing industry is on course toward steep
restrictions this year.<BR><BR>The number of chinook salmon returning to the
<st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place> plummeted to near historic
lows last year, and fishery experts are predicting similarly light returns this
year.<BR><BR>Donald McIsaac, director of the Pacific Fishery Management Council,
said the reason for the decline remains unclear. <BR><BR>But the numbers of
chinook or king salmon returning to many other West Coast rivers were also down
last year, and scientists suspect the culprit is ocean conditions linked to
global warming.<BR><BR>"The implications of a precipitous decline could be
substantial for both commercial and recreational fisheries coastwide," McIsaac
said, drawing a comparison to 2006, when plummeting <st1:place w:st="on">Klamath
River</st1:place> salmon stocks prompted major fishing cutbacks.<BR><BR>Some
environmentalists blamed the troubles on water exports from the Sacramento-San
Joaquin River Delta, headwaters of the giant aqueducts that funnel water to
<st1:place w:st="on">Southern California</st1:place>.<BR><BR>The Sacramento
River's "missing salmon" were juveniles migrating to sea in spring 2005, when
state and federal water managers "set records for pumping delta water south,"
said Mike Sherwood, an attorney with Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental
legal group that has been jousting with water managers over water
exports.<BR><BR>McIsaac sent an e-mail late Monday to members of the Pacific
Fishery Management Council outlining the steep salmon decline.<BR><BR>Only about
90,000 returning adult salmon were counted in the Central Valley in 2007, the
second-lowest number on record and nearly one-tenth the all-time high of more
than 800,000 five years ago.<BR><BR>McIsaac said he wanted to give council
members "an early alert to what at this point appears to be an unprecedented
collapse." Particularly worrisome, he said, is the historic slump in the number
of returning 2-year-old salmon, which are used as an indicator of future adult
salmon returns. Just 2,000 of the young fish returned to the <st1:place
w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place> last year, an all-time low, compared with
more than 76,000 in 2004.<BR><BR>The fishery council, which sets annual federal
fishing limits on the West Coast, is slated to meet in <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:place></st1:City> in March to
discuss potential restrictions, with a final decision in April. The salmon
season typically begins in May. #<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><A
href="">http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-salmon30jan30,1,5329114.story</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face="Times New Roman" color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Salmon
run in big trouble, fish counts show; </SPAN></FONT></B><B><FONT face=Tahoma
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Those who fish
may face stiff restrictions<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">Modesto</SPAN></FONT></B></st1:place></st1:City><B><FONT
face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma"> Bee –
1/30/08<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></B></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><B><FONT face=Tahoma size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">By Mike Mooney,
staff writer</SPAN></FONT></B><FONT size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">A dramatic
decline in the number of chinook salmon returning to spawn in the <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Northern</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType>, and
elsewhere in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State
w:st="on">California</st1:State></st1:place>, could lead to severe fishing
restrictions.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">As of
Tuesday, only 1,100 chinook, also known as king salmon, had been counted on the
Stanislaus, Tuolumne and <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Merced</st1:place></st1:City> rivers.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">That's
about an 80 percent drop from the previous year, when about 5,800 returning
salmon were reported in the three rivers.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"These
numbers, while still preliminary, are very disappointing. There is nothing in
particular that we can point to at this stage to explain it." said Kate Hora,
Modesto Irrigation District spokeswoman.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">In the
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River basin</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>, the number of
returning chinook also has declined precipitously, leading federal fishery
regulators to consider imposing stiff restrictions on salmon fishing this
year.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Experts say
the dwindling chinook population is part of a broader decline in wild salmon
runs across the West.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The number
of chinook returning to the <st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place>
and its tributaries is down more than 88 percent from the all-time high recorded
five years ago, according to an internal memo sent to members of the Pacific
Fishery Management Council and obtained Tuesday by The Associated
Press.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">About
90,000 returning adult salmon were counted in the <st1:place w:st="on">Central
Valley</st1:place> in 2007, the second-lowest number on record, the memo
says.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">The
population was at 277,000 in 2006 and 804,000 five years
ago.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">In an
e-mail to fishery council members, Donald McIsaac, the agency's executive
director, said he wanted to give them "an early alert to what at this point
appears to be an unprecedented collapse in the abundance of adult California
Central Valley ... fall chinook salmon stocks."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">"The
magnitude of the low abundance," he wrote, "is such that the opening of all
marine and freshwater fisheries impacting this important salmon stock will be
questioned."<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Last fall,
Doug Demko of FishBIO, a consulting firm with offices in Oakdale and <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Chico</st1:place></st1:City>, told The Bee that
salmon numbers were in decline throughout the West.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Why? Demko
and other experts believe changing climate conditions, including warmer water
temperatures in the northern <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific Ocean</st1:place>,
could be behind the dramatic decline.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">Salmon
thrive in colder water.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">For years,
conventional wisdom in the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Northern</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Valley</st1:PlaceType></st1:place> has been that more water flowing
through rivers during the spring would lead to larger numbers of salmon
returning to spawn in the fall.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">MID
officials have speculated that a host of problems could be making life difficult
for the fish, including predatory striped bass, declining water quality, warmer
water temperatures and delta pumping.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">It's only
the second time in 35 years that the Central Valley has not met the agency's
conservation goal of 122,000 to 180,000 returning fish, according to the
council, which regulates <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Pacific</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType
w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
fisheries.<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'"><o:p> </o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal style="BACKGROUND: white"><FONT face="Times New Roman"
size=4><SPAN style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'">More
worrisome is that only about 2,000 2-year-old juvenile chinooks -- used to
predict returns of adult spawners in the coming season -- returned to the
<st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> last year, by far the lowest
number ever counted. On average, about 40,000 juveniles, or "jacks," return each
year. #<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><A
href="">http://www.modbee.com/local/story/195895.html</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><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><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><B><FONT face=Tahoma color=black size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 14pt; COLOR: black; FONT-FAMILY: Tahoma">AP:
Officials Warn Of Salmon Population 'Collapse'; Regulators Could Close West
Coast Salmon Fishing This Year<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">CBS
Channel 13 – 1/29/08</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 style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><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 number
of chinook salmon returning to <st1:State w:st="on">California</st1:State>'s
<st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> reached a near-record low last
year, pointing to an "unprecedented collapse" that could lead to severe
restrictions on West Coast salmon fishing this year, according to federal
fishery regulators.<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 sharp
drop in chinook or "king" salmon returning from the Pacific Ocean to spawn in
the <st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento River</st1:place> and its tributaries this
past fall is part of broader decline in wild salmon runs in rivers across the
West.<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'">Regulators
are still trying to understand the reasons for the shrinking number of spawners;
some scientists believe it's related to changes in the ocean linked to global
warming.<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'">Only about
90,000 returning adult salmon were counted in the <st1:place w:st="on">Central
Valley</st1:place> in 2007, the second lowest number on record, according to an
internal memo sent to members of the Pacific Fishery Management Council and
obtained by The Associated Press. That's down from about 277,000 in 2006 and an
all-time high of 804,000 five years ago.<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 an
e-mail to council members, Donald McIsaac, the agency's executive director, said
he wanted to give them "an early alert to what at this point appears to be an
unprecedented collapse in the abundance of adult California Central Valley ...
fall Chinook salmon stocks."<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
magnitude of the low abundance ... is such that the opening of all marine and
freshwater fisheries impacting this important salmon stock will be questioned,"
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'">It's only
the second time in 35 years that the Central Valley has not met the council's
conservation goal of 122,000 returning fish, according to the council, which
regulates <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Pacific</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
fisheries.<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'">More
worrisome is that only about 2,000 2-year-old juvenile chinooks -- an important
indicator for the coming salmon season -- reached an all-time low in 2007,
compared to a long-term average of about 40,000.<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'">Salmon
that spawn in Central Valley rivers form the backbone of the West Coast's
commercial and recreational salmon fishery and are caught by fisherman as far
north as <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">British
Columbia</st1:place></st1:State>.<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'">"<st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City></st1:place> fish are really
what the fishery depends on," said Chuck Tracy, who heads the council's salmon
technical team. "When <st1:place w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place> fish are
low it gets really hard to catch fish even if you're given the
opportunity."<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
council plans to meet in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City></st1:place> in March to discuss possible
restrictions on the salmon season that begins in May. Final decisions will be
made at its meeting in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Seattle</st1:place></st1:City> in April.
#<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt"><A
href="">http://cbs13.com/local/salmon.population.collapse.2.640632.html</A><o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0pt"><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=4><SPAN
style="FONT-SIZE: 14pt">####<o:p></o:p></SPAN></FONT></P>
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