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<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>California
ban on salmon fishing likely for '09<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>San
Francisco Chronicle – 2/26/09<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>By
Peter Fimrite, staff writer<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><strong><span style='font-size:
14.0pt'>(02-25) 20:26 PST </span></strong><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>-- Prospects
are not good this year for the folks who fish for salmon off the California
coast - or for the people who like to eat it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";
display:none'><a
href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/26/BANN165CUH.DTL&type=newsbayarea"><span
style='color:#015660;text-decoration:none'>Mission District rally for immigrant
rights</span></a> 02.26.09 <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
number of chinook in the ocean right now is barely enough to meet the minimum
sustainable goal when the fish return to spawn in the Sacramento River system
this fall - and that's assuming no fishing is allowed this year, according to a
forecast Wednesday by a federal agency.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
ominous news, contained in the Pacific Fishery Management Council's report on
ocean salmon fisheries, comes on the tail fins of last week's announcement that
fewer salmon than ever recorded swam through San Francisco Bay last fall to
spawn in the Sacramento River.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"This
is grim news for the state of California," said Don Hansen, chairman of
the council, a federal body that regulates commercial and sport fishing.
"We won't be able to talk about this without using the word 'disaster.'
"<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Last
year only 66,286 adult salmon returned to the Sacramento River to spawn, only
the second time in 16 years that the number of fall run chinook failed to meet
the council's goal of between 122,000 and 180,000 adult fish. Six years ago,
the peak return was 13 times higher. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
dismal showing forced a ban on commercial salmon fishing off the California and
Oregon coasts, the first total closure in California history. <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Wednesday's
report projects a return of 122,196 fish next fall, assuming no salmon are
hooked and reeled in for food in the meantime. The chinook that spawn in the
fall are the same ones that are normally fished out of the ocean during the
summer.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
council will discuss another possible ban during its annual meeting March 7-13
in Seattle, and things aren't looking good, said Chuck Tracy, a staff officer
for the council.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>"Certainly
fisheries are going to be very restricted at the best," he said.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>One
positive sign in the council report is that the number of salmon returning to
the Klamath River is expected to exceed the council's goal. Chinook and coho
salmon runs in the Columbia River, which empties into the ocean on the
Oregon-Washington border, are expected to be strong this year, meaning fishing
restrictions there are likely to be less severe.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Chinook,
also known as king salmon, are the prized fish of Northern California. They
were once abundant in the ocean and in almost every river and stream along the
coast throughout the year.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>They
have struggled for centuries against the powerful currents of the Sacramento
and San Joaquin rivers, laying eggs in the gravel. Their young would hatch in
the rivers, swim out the bay and live in the ocean, returning to their
birthplace three years later.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The
mighty fish, which was the primary food of many Native American communities,
are now worth millions of dollars to the economies of fishing communities up
and down the coast.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>Scientists
believe warmer ocean conditions have reduced the food supply for the fish,
while record exports of water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
coincided with major declines in chinook.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>The National Marine Fisheries
Service is expected to make a final decision on fishing quotas by May 1, when
California's salmon fishing season begins.</span><b><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Byron
Leydecker, JcT</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Chair, Friends
of Trinity River</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>PO Box 2327</span></i><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>Mill Valley, CA
94942-2327</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 383 4810
land</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>415 519 4810
cell</span></i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bwl3@comcast.net"><span style='color:blue'>bwl3@comcast.net</span></a></span></i></b><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="mailto:bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org"><span style='color:blue'>bleydecker@stanfordalumni.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'>(secondary)</span></i><b><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-size:12.0pt;color:gray'><a
href="http://fotr.org/"><span style='color:blue'>http://www.fotr.org</span></a>
</span></i></b><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
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