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<h1 style='margin:0in;margin-bottom:.0001pt'><span lang=EN style='font-size:
14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif";color:windowtext'>Federal officials
ban salmon fishing off California coast<o:p></o:p></span></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'>Dwindling
populations of Chinook salmon force fishery managers to severely limit
commercial salmon fishing in California and Oregon for the second year in a
row. Future of the industry is dubious.<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>The
Los Angeles Times - 4/9/09<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>By
Maria L. La Ganga</span></b><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'><br>
<br>
Reporting from Millbrae, Calif. — Federal fishery managers voted
unanimously Wednesday to ban commercial salmon fishing off the coast of
California for the second year in a row, a move some fishermen fear could
imperil the industry's future in the name of saving it.<br>
<br>
The Pacific Fishery Management Council also severely limited commercial fishing
off the coast of Oregon for the second year and took a deep bite out of
recreational salmon fishing in California, restricting that popular pastime to
a 10-day window and a 130-mile stretch from the Oregon border south. <br>
<br>
Canceling the commercial season was the only tack to take "when your
bread-and-butter stock is not producing," said David Bitts, president of
the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Assns. <br>
<br>
"But if we don't go fishing next year," warned Bitts, a fisherman
from Eureka, Calif., "we have to start thinking that salmon fishing in
California is over."<br>
<br>
Only about 122,000 of the prized Chinook -- also known as wild king salmon --
are expected to journey up the Sacramento River to spawn this fall. Although
that's nearly twice as many as in last year's dismal season, it is barely
enough to sustain the salmon population.<br>
<br>
"It's terrible, to say the least," said David Goldenberg, chief
executive of the California Salmon Council. "But we're going to have to
deal with it, if the numbers of returning salmon are so low fishermen don't
want to fish it."<br>
<br>
But "dealing with it" could be easier said than done, and fishermen
are not the only ones affected by the shutdown. The whole salmon infrastructure
will take yet another hit, from gear stores and ice houses to fuel docks and
processing plants. State officials estimated that the 2008 fishing ban resulted
in a loss of $255 million and 2,263 jobs. <br>
<br>
"Things are very fragile as far as the infrastructure is concerned,"
said Duncan MacLean, a Half Moon Bay, Calif., commercial fisherman and salmon
advisor to the management council. "There's a lot of support businesses that
will either relocate or go under."<br>
<br>
The salmon industry received a miniature federal bailout after the 2008 season
was canceled -- $170 million in emergency aid, of which about $120 million was
disbursed to everyone from fishermen to charter boat owners.<br>
<br>
"It's been a godsend for the entire industry," said MacLean, who
traveled with others in the industry to Washington last year to lobby Congress
for assistance. "We wouldn't be considering ourselves still fishermen
right now if it wasn't for that."<br>
<br>
It is unclear whether more aid will be available to help assuage a second year
of pain. At the very least, the industry hopes last year's leftovers will be
distributed to keep fishermen and others afloat.<br>
<br>
There is no single reason for California and Oregon's flagging Chinook fishery,
but rather a plethora of unfortunate circumstances.<br>
<br>
Recent ocean conditions have been too warm and there has not been enough food
for so-called juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon, according to a National Marine
Fisheries Service report. <br>
<br>
MacLean also points to record water deliveries to Southern California, habitat
destruction caused by urbanization, pollution from agricultural chemicals and
mismanagement of the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. <br>
<br>
"There's no one smoking gun," MacLean said, "but there are a lot
of spent shell casings all over the place." <br>
<br>
Washington's fisheries are healthy enough this season for commercial and
recreational fishing of both Chinook and coho salmon, although there are quotas
in place.<br>
<br>
The big question is whether the salmon population will rebound enough in 2010
for salmon fishing to resume in California and Oregon.<br>
<br>
Peter Moyle, a professor of fish biology at UC Davis, is dubious. "Ocean
conditions are pretty good right now, and salmon numbers are creeping up
again," he wrote in an e-mail, "but there is no guarantee such trends
will lead to fishable populations in the next 2-3 years, or beyond."<br>
<br>
Just before the unanimous vote, the council's California representative said
she hoped 2010 would be a better year.<br>
<br>
"It's very unfortunate we have no real ocean fisheries in
California," said Marija Vojkovich of the California Department of Fish
and Game, ruing what she called the state's "commercial nonseason."<br>
<br>
"I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is not what we deal with next
year."</span><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><span lang=EN style='font-size:14.0pt;color:blue'><a
href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-salmon9-2009apr09,0,2167233.story"
title="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-salmon9-2009apr09,0,2167233.story">http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-salmon9-2009apr09,0,2167233.story</a><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>
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