[env-trinity] Smaller Salmon Runs for Klamath-Trinity

[Tom Stokely]

It's my understanding that there was a juvenile fish kill in spring/early summer of 2002 which affected this year's run of 3-year old chinook.  The impacts of the 2002 adult salmon kill on 3 year old fall chinook in the Klamath-Trinity will not be felt until next year.  The number of returning jacks this year will help determine what the impact of the adult fish kill will likely be next year.

Usually in the Trinity River, fall chinook outnumber spring chinook by a ratio of about 2/1.  However, it's my understanding that in 2002 due to the fish kill in the lower Klamath and a robust spring run on the Trinity, spring chinook outnumbered fall chinook by about 2/1, something not seen since the fish have been monitored here starting in the 1970's.

Tom Stokely



http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/peninsula/8387824.htm 
Posted on Thu, Apr. 08, 2004 

Klamath fish kills influence salmon industry two years later 

DON THOMPSON 
Associated Press 

SACRAMENTO - Two years after one of the nation's largest recorded fish kills, federal fisheries 
managers adopted restrictions Thursday to protect a smaller returning Klamath River salmon 
population along the coasts of California and Oregon. Salmon fishing also will be reduced along the 
northern West Coast to compensate for an increased Canadian catch. 

At least 32,550 fall run chinook salmon died along the Klamath in what is believed to be the 
nation's largest such die-off in the fall of 2002, and biologists worry that could be a significant 
underestimate. It followed two consecutive smaller spring kills, when water diverted to irrigation 
stranded young salmon that, had they survived, would be returning upriver to spawn. 

The projected catch of Klamath River fall chinook this year is down 25 percent from last year's 
actual catch, said Chuck Tracy, the Pacific Fisheries Management Council's salmon expert. The 
council regulates sport and commercial fishing in the Pacific. 

Other salmon runs are expected to be bountiful, but the catch will have to be restricted to make 
sure there are enough Klamath River salmon to ensure future generations. 

"It's coming back to haunt us, and it will haunt us at least one more year," said Duncan MacLean, a 
32-year commercial salmon fisherman from Half Moon Bay who serves as California's salmon troll 
adviser to the federal council. "It's not just a few communities here. This is affecting the salmon 
fishing industry from the Mexican border all the way up through Oregon." 

The fish kills manifest an ongoing battle between farmers, fishermen and Indian tribes over scarce 
water in the Klamath River flowing from south central Oregon through northern California. An 
irrigation shut-off in 2001 led to confrontations between farmers and U.S. marshals, and engaged 
the White House as the Department of Interior and Bureau of Reclamation continue trying to 
balance water demands. 

MacLean is among fishermen who are bitter at the annual restrictions and billions of dollars spent 
to improve salmon habitat, "only to see those destroyed in one fell swoop. Fish just can't get along 
without water. It's just that simple." 

But Wade Sinnen, a fisheries biologist with the California Department of Fish and Game, said ocean 
conditions and many other environmental factors may also be to blame for the lower projected 
return. 

"That's a stretch to say there's a definite link there," Sinnen said. "You can't positively say because 
of the kill, the numbers are down." 

The restrictions the length of the U.S. West Coast come a year after the fisheries council 
recommended the largest salmon harvests in 15 years. 

"Just because they don't get as good a season as they did last year, doesn't mean it's going to be a bad 
season. I think it's going to be a great season," said California fisheries biologist Melodie 
Palmer-Zwahlen. 

West Coast salmon runs had been steadily increasing the last three years after bottoming out in 
1994. The populations by then were so low the council nearly shut down both sport and 
commercial salmon fishing to keep from wiping out threatened and endangered runs. 

To avoid a repeat and make sure Klamath salmon return to spawn, the council increased the size 
limit from 26 inches to 27 inches beginning July 1, and to 28 inches beginning Sept. 1 north of 
Point Arena; delayed the season a month in the Fort Bragg area; and imposed a smaller catch in 
the Crescent City and Eureka area near the mouth of the river. A more complicated system was 
recommended for Oregon to get similar results. 

"Guys will not work on schools of smaller fish that they otherwise would have worked," said David 
Bitts of Eureka, vice president of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations, who has 
fished for salmon for 30 years. 

The council also trimmed salmon harvests from northern Oregon through Washington to 
compensate for an increased Canadian catch of the benchmark species there, Snake River fall 
chinook. Unlike the last few years, Canada intends to catch its limit this season. 

"There won't be as many to go around," Tracy said. When commercial fishermen reach their limit 
on that species, they'll have to stop the harvest for other salmon as well. 

Recreational fisheries will be less affected, with limits generally similar to last year. 

In Oregon, the coho fishery will extend to the Oregon-California border instead of to Humbug 
Mountain, but there will be a smaller quota. 

For winter run chinook in California, the 2005 season will begin April 2 with a 20-inch size limit, 
down from a periodic 24-inch limit this year. Salmon stayed far off the California coast last year, so 
not as many were caught. 

"We're hoping they'll have a little better fishing this year, a more normal catch," Tracy said. 

ON THE NET 

Pacific Fishery Management Council: http://pcouncil.org 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20040409/6b22a6e3/attachment.html>