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<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:black'>Top salmon researcher says
outlook for fish is grim<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";
color:black'>The Santa Cruz Sentinel – 3/07/09<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";
color:black'>By Kurtis Alexander<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 class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt'>SANTA CRUZ -- The author of
last year's landmark report on California's salmon decline repeated his call or
protective action Friday and said the Central Coast's coho would be among the
first fish to vanish if nothing is done.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><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;
color:black'>"Extinction is not an abstract thing," said Peter Moyle,
speaking before hundreds of researchers at this week's Salmonid Restoration
Conference, held at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'>The warning, which Moyle sounded for most of the state's 31
salmon, steelhead and trout species, comes as regulators consider closing the
fishing season yet another year for the California chinook -- the state's
foremost salmon fishery and a standard catch for local anglers and restaurants
alike.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'>"This is a crisis," said Moyle, a UC Davis professor who
led the research behind last year's grim California Trout report.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'>Moyle attributes the dwindling number of salmon, from chinook to
coho, to excessive water diversions, construction of dams and other changes to
the rivers where the fish spawn. Global warming, and its effect on stream
temperatures and food supplies, may be another factor.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'>Restoring streams and rivers to their natural flows, and coming up
with the money and political will to do so, would set the stage for recovery,
Moyle says. Without action, he estimates, 65 percent of the state's salmon
species will go extinct within 100 years.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'>Monterey Bay fishermen know the dim outlook all too well.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>"It makes it
impossible for the guys trying to hang in there and do this for a living,"
said Tom Canale, 62, who sold his fishing boat at the Santa Cruz harbor just a
few years ago. "There really isn't much opportunity now."<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'>The Santa Cruz Commercial Fishermen's Association counts about 70
members, according to Canale, about 40 of whom rely primarily on salmon.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'>This fall, the state's largest run of chinook fell short for the
second straight year, numbering about 66,000 of the normal 122,000 when they
returned to spawn in the Sacramento River. The figure almost certainly means
federal regulators next month will curtail or cancel the salmon season, which
normally begins May 1.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'>Last year's closure, the first in history, cost the state $255
million and 2,263 jobs, according to the state Department of Fish and Game.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'>The Central Coast coho salmon, meanwhile, has been federally
protected since 1996. While it's never had the commercial viability of the
Sacramento River chinook, researchers are trying to ensure its recovery by
improving the health of the local rivers and streams where the fish spawn.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span style='font-size:14.0pt;
color:black'>A spawning pool was recently built on San Vicente Creek, and
earlier this week the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors eliminated a
log-removal program to increase the number of naturally forming pools so coho
can thrive.#<o:p></o:p></span></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><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>
<p class=MsoNormal> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p>
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