[env-trinity] Fall-run king salmon fishing looks bleak

[Tom Stokely]

http://www.trinityjournal.com/news/environment/article_5d12604a-1f29-11e7-aa61-83238c076b29.html

Fall-run king salmon fishing looks bleak
   
   - By AMY GITTELSOHN The Trinity Journal
 - Apr 12, 2017
 -  0
   
   - 
   - 
   - 
   
   - File
Low estimates of Klamath/Trinity fall run chinook salmon in the ocean could close in-river sports fishing for the run. A decision is expected this week.    
   - 
   - 
   - 
   - 
   - 
An abysmally low estimate for the number of Klamath and Trinity river fall-run chinook salmon in the sea is expected to translate into an allowable catch this season of zero to hardly any.State and federal fishery scientists have presented an estimate of only 54,200 Klamath River fall run adult chinook in the ocean as of Sept. 1. The number includes fish bound for the Klamath’s largest tributary, the Trinity River.The figures for Sacramento River fall chinook are also low, although not in the dire straits the Klamath stocks are facing.The Pacific Fishery Management Council is recommending to the National Marine Fisheries Service that the ocean commercial salmon fishery from the Florence South Jetty in Southern Oregon to Horse Mountain in California be closed for the entire season to reduce impacts to the Klamath fall chinook. For recreational ocean fishing, the recommendation is closure of the Brookings, Ore., and Crescent City and Eureka, Calif. areas. Those recommendations along with many others for the West Coast will be forwarded to the fisheries service for approval by May 1.Also this week, the state Fish and Game Commission is expected to come out with the allowable catch in the Klamath and Trinity rivers.Looking at the estimated number of fish in the ocean and the goals for the number of chinook spawning in the river, the math does not work out well.The 54,200 figure for Sept. 1 is the lowest preseason ocean abundance estimate ever, noted Wade Sinnen, associate biologist with the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.Since September many of those fish will have died in the ocean, and some will not have matured enough to return to the river, he said.Even if there were no ocean fishing, only 18,800 adult fall chinook would be expected to enter the mouth of the river, including hatchery and wild fish. Typically, the goal is to have 40,700 natural adult spawn in the river, allowing any amount over that for fishing.“Obviously, we’re not going to get there,” Sinnen said. “We’re not even close to meeting that threshold.”“Needless to say we’re going to have slim to no salmon fishing this year,” he added.There are rules that could allow for a harvest of about 1,600 of those 18,800 fish when the threshold can’t be met — but that’s a low number to divide among ocean commercial and recreational fishing and in-river tribal and recreational fishing. For the in-river sports fishing, what shakes out in this scenario is an allowable catch for the Klamath and Trinity rivers combined of 129 fish. A quota that small would be very difficult to try to manage, Sinnen said, and although that is the allocation from the fisheries management  council the Fish and Game Commission could decide not to allow in-river sport fishing.The tribes also could decide not to catch their full allocations, and the Yurok Tribe has announced it will not have a commercial fishery for the second year in a row. They still have sustenance fishing.Separate from the adult numbers, fishing for immature “jacks” might be allowed, although there would still have to be consideration of incidental catch and release of adult fish.Sinnen attributed the cause of the low fall chinook projections to three strikes against these fish, including several years of drought impacting survival in the river, high incidences of disease by out-migrating juvenile fish on the Klamath side of the system, and poor ocean conditions.The saving grace, he said, is the long-term data showing that even in low abundance years the salmon populations can rebound quickly if this year’s young encounter good river and ocean conditions. If so, those effects will be seen when they return in a few years.Two Trinity County fishing guides were in agreement that the fall run chinook need a break from harvest.Fishing Guide Liam Gogan from Trinity River Outfitters predicted a “jacks only” season.“Economically that would be a disaster,” he said. “People won’t come from out of town to fish for sub-adult king salmon on the Trinity River.”But at the same time, he added, “I think with the quantity of fish they’re forecasting they should probably call it a zero limit fishery and take the year off.”That includes jacks. He’s concerned that here and there people will do the wrong thing, and keep an adult while ostensibly fishing for jacks.Four years of drought have hurt the fish, Gogan said. He also lambasted the Trinity River Restoration Program, calling it “an absolute failure.”Another fishing guide, Travis Michel, feels the fish have been overharvested.“Our fish runs have been for a long time managed for maximum profit for tribes and commercial fishing,” he said.A different model is needed to ensure enough fish survive to spawn, he said.Regarding the Trinity River Restoration Program, Sinnen noted that fall chinook populations on the Klamath side and other rivers are also down, indicating global conditions at play.“They’ve identified what need for habitat, particularly juvenile salmon,” he said, “and they’re building that habitat.”The tribes point to the unprecedented drought exacerbated by dams and diversions.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://www2.dcn.org/pipermail/env-trinity/attachments/20170413/2bd22c5e/attachment.html>