<html xmlns:v="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml" xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:st1="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=us-ascii">
<meta name=Generator content="Microsoft Word 11 (filtered medium)">
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
v\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
o\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
w\:* {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
.shape {behavior:url(#default#VML);}
</style>
<![endif]--><o:SmartTagType
namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" name="PlaceType"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PlaceName"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PostalCode"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="State"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="City"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="Street"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="place"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="address"/>
<o:SmartTagType namespaceuri="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"
name="PersonName"/>
<!--[if !mso]>
<style>
st1\:*{behavior:url(#default#ieooui) }
</style>
<![endif]-->
<style>
<!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:Verdana;
panose-1:2 11 6 4 3 5 4 4 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Georgia;
panose-1:2 4 5 2 5 4 5 2 3 3;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
p.MsoEnvelopeAddress, li.MsoEnvelopeAddress, div.MsoEnvelopeAddress
{margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:0in;
margin-left:2.0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
mso-element:frame;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black;}
p.MsoEnvelopeReturn, li.MsoEnvelopeReturn, div.MsoEnvelopeReturn
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed
{color:purple;
text-decoration:underline;}
p.MsoAutoSig, li.MsoAutoSig, div.MsoAutoSig
{margin:0in;
margin-bottom:.0001pt;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.EmailStyle19
{mso-style-type:personal-compose;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:windowtext;
font-weight:bold;
font-style:normal;
text-decoration:none none;}
p.byline1, li.byline1, div.byline1
{margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:1.8pt;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:10.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;}
p.date1, li.date1, div.date1
{margin-top:0in;
margin-right:0in;
margin-bottom:1.8pt;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:10.5pt;
font-family:Verdana;}
span.georgia1
{font-family:Georgia;}
span.verdana1
{font-family:Verdana;}
span.times1
{font-family:"Times New Roman";}
span.arial1
{font-family:Arial;}
@page Section1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.25in 1.0in 1.25in;}
div.Section1
{page:Section1;}
-->
</style>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapedefaults v:ext="edit" spidmax="1026" />
</xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
<o:shapelayout v:ext="edit">
<o:idmap v:ext="edit" data="1" />
</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]-->
</head>
<body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple>
<div class=Section1>
<table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width=946
style='width:567.6pt'>
<tr>
<td width="100%" valign=top style='width:100.0%;padding:0in 6.0pt 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:9.5pt'><a href="http://www.sfgate.com/chronicle/"><font
color="#015660"><span style='color:#015660;text-decoration:none'><img
border=0 width=150 height=21 id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:image001.gif@01C886C0.3BB7E750" alt="San Francisco Chronicle"></span></font></a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:6.6pt'><b><font size=4 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:13.5pt;font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'><!-- dont write <hr /> here -->1-year
ban on chinook salmon fishing proposed<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=byline1><font size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt'><a
href="mailto:pfimrite@sfchronicle.com">Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=date1><font size=1 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:8.0pt'>Saturday,
March 15, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<!-- types/ads/pages/oas/oas_rich.tmpl -->
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><strong><b><font
size=2 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><!--/.shareprefs-->(</span></font>3-15)
04:00 PDT Sacramento</b></strong> -- Commercial and recreational fishing for
chinook salmon will be banned this year under two of the three options
outlined Friday by the Pacific Fishery Management Council to handle the
catastrophic disappearance of California's fabled run of the pink fish
popularly known as king salmon.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Even if some fish are
taken for scientific purposes - a possibility under one of the scenarios -
the overriding message that came out of the weeklong series of federal
hearings in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:place></st1:City>
is that the West Coast salmon fishery is in the midst of complete disaster.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The council did propose
one option that would allow limited fishing, but the likelihood of any
significant commercial or sport fishing this year is minimal, fisheries
experts said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"This will be the
first total closure since commercial fishing started in the San Francisco Bay
Area in 1848," said <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Zeke Grader</st1:PersonName>,
the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fisherman's
Associations, who, like most anglers, acknowledges that closing the season is
necessary if the chinook are to be saved.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"Right now we're
looking at trying to keep the industry alive for the next two years," he
said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>So few fall-run chinook
came back to spawn in the Sacramento River and its tributaries last fall that
the fishery council is required under its management plan to halt fishing
throughout the salmon habitat, which is all along the California and Oregon
coasts.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Only an emergency
ruling by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez could change the requirement,
and that, according to fisheries experts, is unlikely except to allow limited
fishing for scientific purposes. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Recreational fishing is
scheduled to kick off in April. Commercial fishing would start the following
month and run through mid-November. If the ban holds, it would mean the loss
of $20.7 million that commercial and recreational salmon fishing brings into
the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">California</st1:place></st1:State>
economy each year. The 400 or so commercial fishermen and women in the state
stand to lose 70 to 80 percent of their annual incomes.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Losses in <st1:State
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State> would top $9
million. At least 1,000 fishermen troll the waters for king salmon between <st1:City
w:st="on">Santa Barbara</st1:City> to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Washington</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">State</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"It is clearly an
absolute crisis," said Dick Pool, president of Pro-Troll, a company
based in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Concord</st1:place></st1:City>
that manufactures fishing equipment.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The management council,
a federal agency created 32 years ago to manage the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Pacific</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Coast</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>
fishery, winnowed the options down to three Fridays following a week of
testimony and the digestion of mounds of documents and studies.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>One of the proposals by
the 14-member council - which is made up of commercial and sportfishing
representatives, conservationists, biologists, and wildlife agency
representatives - would close the entire salmon fishing season this year. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The second option would
allow fish to be caught between May 1 and Aug. 31 only for scientific
research. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>A third option would
allow limited commercial fishing in three areas. Fishing would be permitted
in <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>
between April 15 and May 31, but the catch would be restricted to 28-inch
chinook and larger. In August only, limited fishing would be permitted in
fishing zones from <st1:City w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:City> to <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Eureka</st1:place></st1:City>. Recreational
fishing would be permitted from May 18 to May 26 in the <st1:City w:st="on">Monterey</st1:City>
area and from April 15 to June 15 in <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 style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>All three options will
now go through a monthlong public comment period, during which scientists and
number crunchers will change the calculations and tweak the proposals until
one stands out as the most viable. The National Marine Fisheries Service is
expected to approve the final decision on the salmon fishing season the
second week of April.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The Sacramento fall
spawning season was the last great salmon run along the giant Central Valley
river system, including the San Joaquin River, where leaping, wriggling
chinook were once so plentiful that old-timers recalled reaching in and
simply plucking fish right out of the water.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Dams, water diversions
for farming, silt from logging and pollution from industry and agriculture
long ago combined to diminish the late fall, winter and spring runs. The fall
run, which numbered more than 800,000 spawning fish just six years ago, has
been reduced to a small fraction of that. Experts are predicting that a
little more than 50,000 fish will be in the river this coming fall. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:17.3pt'><b><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>No change next year<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Most fishing industry
representatives and anglers have already written off next year based on the
projections.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Pool said that this
year and 2009 "are toast as far as we are concerned. We're targeting
2010 and 2011."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Fisheries managers have
already canceled early-season ocean fishing for chinook off <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Oregon</st1:place></st1:State>, where commercial trolling had been
set to open today up to the Oregon-California border. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Another ocean salmon
fishing season that was set last year began Feb. 17 in the Shelter Cove area
off Garberville (<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Humboldt</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">County</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>). The state is
expected to follow the lead of the feds and close that season during a
meeting in April, said spokesman Harry Morse, of the California Department of
Fish and Game, which controls fishing within three miles of the coast. Morse
said a ruling is also expected during the meeting on whether to allow a
freshwater salmon catch, which he said is unlikely if the ocean season is
shut down. One option presented by the council Friday recommended that a
1,000-fish limit be enacted for anglers on the Central Valley river system,
including the <st1:City w:st="on">Sacramento</st1:City>, <st1:place w:st="on">San
Joaquin</st1:place> and Feather rivers. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Nobody knows for sure
what has caused the recent precipitous decline of the chinook salmon, but the
National Marine Fisheries Service pointed to a sudden lack of nutrient-rich
deep ocean upwellings caused by ocean temperature changes as a possible
cause. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Most biologists believe
it is a combination of factors, including agricultural pollution and damaged
habitat. Grader and Pool are members of a coalition of anglers, Indian tribes
and environmentalists who claimed Friday that the collapse corresponded with
increases in exports from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta between 2001
and 2007. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The coalition members
called for reductions in water exports to agricultural interests in the <st1:place
w:st="on">Central Valley</st1:place>, tighter controls on pollution and more
enforcement of environmental laws.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:17.3pt'><b><font size=4 face=Arial><span style='font-size:13.5pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold'>Fight for survival<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"This is a battle
for the whole coast," Grader said, "and I think it is time that we
began taking action." <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>One certainty is that
consumers can kiss fresh West Coast wild salmon goodbye for now and expect to
pay astronomical prices for the <st1:State w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Alaska</st1:place></st1:State>
equivalent. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>Paul Johnson, president
of the Monterey Fish Market, a high-end seafood wholesaler at <st1:City
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">San Francisco</st1:place></st1:City>'s Pier
33, said this week that people can expect to see salmon in fancy restaurants
for around $40 a portion, about twice the normal price. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>The price fishermen get
for their catch has gone up from about $1.75 a pound three years ago to about
$5.50 a pound, but to most anglers, the situation isn't about money anymore.
It's about survival of a species. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"I, for one, am
more interested in making sure my grandchildren will be able to experience
these wonderful natural resources than I am in making a living at it,"
said Duncan MacLean, who has represented commercial fishermen before the
council this past week. "It's the responsibility of our government to
ensure the future of those resources and they are falling flat on their
faces."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>"There's no
smoking gun here," he said, "but there are a lot of empty weapons
and spent shell casings."<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
line-height:17.3pt'><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'>Online resource <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><strong><b><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'>For the
recommended chinook fishing restrictions:</span></font></b></strong><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-top:9.0pt;line-height:17.3pt'><em><i><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="http://www.pcouncil.org/whatsnew.html">www.pcouncil.org/whatsnew.html</a></span></font></i></em><font
size=2><span style='font-size:9.5pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><st1:PersonName w:st="on"><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray;font-style:italic'>Byron</span></font></i></st1:PersonName><i><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray;font-style:italic'> Leydecker</span></font></i></st1:PersonName><i><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray;font-style:italic'><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-style:italic'>Friends of <st1:place
w:st="on">Trinity River</st1:place>, Chair</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><st1:address w:st="on"><st1:Street w:st="on"><i><font
size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
color:gray;font-style:italic'>PO Box</span></font></i></st1:Street><i><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray;font-style:italic'> 2327</span></font></i></st1:address><i><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray;font-style:italic'><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><i><font size=3
color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;
font-style:italic'>Mill Valley</span></font></i></st1:City><i><font
color=gray><span style='color:gray;font-style:italic'>, <st1:State w:st="on">CA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">94942-2327</st1:PostalCode></span></font></i></st1:place><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-style:italic'>415 383 4810</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-style:italic'>415 519 4810 cell</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=gray face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray;font-style:italic'>415 383 9562 fax<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'>bwl3@comcast.net<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></font>
<font color=gray><span style='color:gray'>(secondary)<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><i><font size=3 color=blue face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:blue;font-style:italic'>http://www.fotr.org<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoAutoSig><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <i><font color=blue><span style='color:blue;font-style:italic'><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
</body>
</html>