[env-trinity] Pacific Fishery Management Council NEWS RELEASE

Thu Mar 20 18:24:51 PDT 2008

Pacific Fishery Management Council NEWS RELEASE  

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Thursday, March 20, 2008  

Contact:  Ms. Jennifer Gilden, Communications Officer, 503?820?2280  

Dr. Donald McIsaac, Executive Director, 503?820?2280  

PACIFIC FISHERY MANAGEMENT COUNCIL TO CHOOSE  FINAL OPTION FOR 2008 SALMON
SEASON  

Portland, OR. - Today the Pacific Fishery Management Council formally
announced its April 7-12 meeting in Seattle, Washington, where an option for
managing West Coast salmon fisheries will be  chosen and recommended to
National Marine Fisheries Service.  The Council invites public comment on
the options; details for commenting are provided below.  

On March 14, the Council adopted three public review options for the 2008
salmonseason, two of which would totally close fisheries for Chinook salmon
off California and most of Oregon. Seasons for northern Oregon and
Washington were also drastically reduced. The Council is scheduled to take
final action to choose a single option on Thursday, April 10.  

"The 2008 salmon season considerations have been dominated by the
unprecedented collapse of the large Sacramento River fall Chinook stock,"
said Council Executive Director Donald McIsaac. "Council members will now
take a final vote on whether any fishing on Sacramento fish should be
allowed in the ocean this year." 

Options  

A detailed table of options is available online. 

The options for the area south of Cape Falcon (from northern Oregon to the
Mexico border) are summarized below. 

Option I allows a small amount of recreational and commercial ocean Chinook
fishing, and a small quota for Sacramento Basin freshwater sport fisheries. 

Under Option I, sport Chinook fishing would be open on the following dates:
April 15 -June 15 from CapeFalcon to Humbug Mountain (Oregon); Memorial Day,
July 4th, and Labor Day weekends for areas between Humbug Mountain (southern
Oregon) and Pigeon Point (central California); and May 18-26 south of Pigeon
Point. In addition, only fishing (for coho that were marked at the hatchery)
would be allowed between Cape Falcon and the Oregon/California border from
June 22 August 31, or until a quota of up to 10,000 coho are caught.   

Ocean commercial Chinook fishing would be allowed April 15 May 31 between
Cape Falcon and the Oregon/California border, and August 1-31, or a 3,000
fish quota, for each of  these areas in California: the Oregon/California
border to Humboldt South Jetty,Fort Bragg, and San Francisco.  

Option II allows a catch-and-release genetic research experiment for Chinook
salmon south of CapeFalcon. This fishery is not open to the public. However,
Option II also allows a sport fishery for 6,000 hatchery coho off Oregon
between Cape Falcon and Humbug Mountain. This option assumes salmon could
not be kept in Sacramento Basin freshwater fisheries.   

Option III would allow no ocean salmon fishing, and also assumes salmon
could not be kept in Sacramento Basin freshwater fisheries.  

North of Cape Falcon to the U.S./Canada border, the three options range from
a quota of 15,000 to 25,000 coho (last year's limit was 140,000), and 45,000
to 25,000 Chinook (last year's limit was 32,500), split between commercial
and recreational fishermen. 

BACKGROUND: SACRAMENTO RIVER FALL CHINOOK DECLINE  

The Sacramento River is the driver of commercial and recreational fisheries
off California and southern Oregon. The minimum conservation goal for
Sacramento fall Chinook is 122,000 - 180,000 spawning  adult salmon (this is
the number of salmon needed to return to the river to maintain the health of
the run). As recently as 2002, 775,000  adults returned to spawn. This year,
even with all ocean salmon fishing closed, the return of fall run Chinook to
the Sacramento is projected tobe 58,200. Under the option that allows small
fisheries in specific areas, returns would be approximately 51,900. 

Economic impacts  

The economic implications of the low abundance of Sacramento River fall
Chinook salmon could be  substantial for commercial, recreational, marine
and freshwater fisheries. In California and Oregon south of Cape Falcon (in
northern Oregon), where Sacramento fish stocks have the biggest impact, the
commercial and recreational salmon fishery had an average economic value of
$103 million per year  between 1979 and 2004. From 2001 to 2005, average
economic impact to communities was $61 million ($40 million in the
commercial fishery and $21 million in the recreational fishery). 

The potential closure is devastating news to beleaguered salmon fleetson the
west coast. California and Oregon ocean salmon fisheries are still
recovering from a poor fishing season in 2005 and a disastrous  one in 2006,
when Klamath River fall Chinook returns were below theirspawning escapement
goal. The catch of salmon in 2007 in these areaswas also well below average,
as the first effects of the Sacramento River fall Chinook stock collapse was
felt. 

Causes  

The reason for the sudden collapse of the Sacramento fall Chinook stock is
not readily apparent.  The National Marine Fisheries Service has  

suggested ocean temperature changes, and a resulting lack of upwelling, as a
possible cause of the sudden decline. Many biologists  

believe a combination of human-caused and natural factors are to blame,
including freshwater in-stream water withdrawals, habitat alterations, dam
operations, construction, pollution, and changes in hatchery operations.
The Council has requested a multi-agency task force led by the National
Marine Fisheries Service'sWest Coast Science Centers to research about 50
potential caustive areas and report back to the Council at the September
meeting in Boise,  Idaho. 

"After everyone asks how this could have happened, the question then becomes
'is there anything we can do to fix it?'," said Council  

Chairman Don Hansen. "The Council will take an immediate step to fix what it
has authority to fix, which is appropriately managing the ocean fisheries
that affect this valuable resource." 

Process  

The Council will accept public comment on the salmon options until April 1,
and at its April 7-12 meeting in Seattle, Washington. Comments may be sent
to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, 7700 NE Ambassador Place, Suite
101, Portland, OR 97220, emailed to   <mailto:pfmc.comments at noaa.gov>
pfmc.comments at noaa.gov, or  faxed to (503) 820-2299. Meanwhile, scientists
will also review the options to determine the effects on salmon and on the
coastal economy.    

Public hearings to receive input on the options are scheduled for March 31
in Westport, Washington and Coos Bay, Oregon, and for April 1 in Eureka,
California.  In addition, the California Fish and Game Commission will make
a decision on California's state-managed salmon fisheries on April 17.   

At its meeting in Seattle, the Council will consult with its scientific and
fishery stakeholder advisory bodies, hear public comment, and choose a final
option for ocean commercial and recreational salmon fishing. Final Council
action is scheduled for Thursday, April 10.  The National Marine Fisheries
Service is expected to make a decision to implement the Council
recommendation into federal regulations before May 1.  The California Fish
and Game Commission will set freshwater seasons affecting Sacramento fall
Chinook salmon later in 2008.   

All Council meetings are open to the public. 

Press Packet and Briefing Materials Available   

A press packet with contacts, background information, a preliminary agenda
for the April Council meeting, a map of affected areas, and acronyms is
available on the Council website at
<http://www.pcouncil.org/newsreleases/sal_presspacket.html>
http://www.pcouncil.org/newsreleases/sal_presspacket.html. 

Detailed materials for Council decision?making will be posted on the
Council's online Briefing Book at
<http://www.pcouncil.org/bb/2008/bb0408.html%A0around%A0March%A027>
http://www.pcouncil.org/bb/2008/bb0408.html around March 27. 

Council Role   

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is one of eight regional
fisherymanagement councils established by the Magnuson Fishery Conservation
and Management Act of 1976 for the purpose of  managing fisheries 3-200
miles offshore of the United States of  America coastline. The Pacific
Council recommends management measures for fisheries off the coasts of
California, Oregon, and Washington. 

### 

On the Web  

Pacific Fishery Management Council:  <http://www.pcouncil.org/>
http://www.pcouncil.org  

Options for 2008 salmon management:
<http://www.pcouncil.org/salmon/salcurr.html#saloptions08%A0>
http://www.pcouncil.org/salmon/salcurr.html#saloptions08  

Schedule of hearings:
<http://www.pcouncil.org/events/2008/salproc08.html#hearings%A0>
http://www.pcouncil.org/events/2008/salproc08.html#hearings  

Geographical points used in salmon management:
<http://www.pcouncil.org/facts/geosalmon.pdf%A0>
http://www.pcouncil.org/facts/geosalmon.pdf  

Byron Leydecker

Friends of Trinity River, Chair

PO Box 2327

Mill Valley, CA 94942-2327

415 383 4810

415 519 4810 cell

415 383 9562 fax

bwl3 at comcast.net

bleydecker at stanfordalumni.org (secondary)

http://www.fotr.org

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20080320/41c908cc/attachment.html>