Media report states that federal authorities decides that for for North Coast ocean sport fishermen this year appears to be substantially better than last year’s token fishery. Commercial salmon fishermen were struggled with several recent years of closures and heavy restrictions and now they are trying to determine whether they should fish or not. A slate of possible salmon seasons and quotas were laid out at the Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting in Sacramento this week.
The authorities have decided sport fishing options for a season range from July 3 to Sept. 6; June 16 to Sept. 6; or May 22 to Sept. 6. All of the options would allow fishing seven days a week and allow fishermen to keep two king salmon per day. According to authorities the June 16 to Sept. 6 option follows guidelines that provide substantially more protection for Sacramento River salmon, the backbone of the West Coast fishery, which have seen record low spawning returns in the past three years.
Humboldt Area Saltwater Anglers representative Ben Doane said that the decision was not hurting unless something comes up that we’re not aware of. He believes the most realistic option is the June 16 to Sept. 6 fishery. Last year’s salmon season was a mere 10 days late in the summer when few fish were around. It is expected that the scenario for for commercial salmon fishermen is poor again this year. Locally, options range from no fishing to 15 days in September, while areas to the south could either be closed or opened up to a fair amount of fishing.
As the commercial fishing poorly hit by closures and restrictions some $170 million was allocated by Congress to aid the commercial fishing industry over the past two years. Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association President Aaron Newman said that the potential for a salmon season is largely dependent on how conservative the council decides to be. He said there appear to be enough fish to have a decent salmon season, and a closure doesn’t seem to make sense.
