The authority has decided to close the commercial salmon fishing season for the year leaving dozens of local salmon fishermen uncertain of their future. Harbours from Monterey to Santa Cruz will have no commercial fishing season as of now. It is said that the local fishermen will try their hand at fishing tuna in spite of the dangers involved in traveling 200 miles out to sea in search of warmer currents.
There are fishermen who want to fish 24×7 until the crab season ends on June 30, hoping their catch will save them economically. The local fishermen even plea to the government for their losses. The decision of the government to end the season all of a sudden will seal the fate of the local fishermen. The federal Pacific Fishery Management Council in Seattle announced that it is expected to impose an unprecedented ban on salmon in California and most of Oregon in the latest attempt to save the salmon fishery, which is in decline as fewer chinook are returning to rivers to spawn.
Ken Stagnaro of Stagnaro Charters in Santa Cruz expressed that those in charter business are going to file for bankruptcy this time around as they lose thousands of salmon fishing customers this summer if the Monterey Bay becomes off-limits. Harry Morris, a spokesman with the state Department of Fish and Game, said that the for the past three years, fewer and fewer fall chinook, or king salmon, have been returning to the Sacramento and Klamath rivers. He added that this affect the southern range of salmon in California.
According to the officials the commercial catch was 30percent of average with only 113,406 caught, the lowest since 1952. Many fishermen say the lack of salmon is “a water management issue.” According to them the federal government failed to manage waters properly. Vicki Crow of Moss Landing, told that no fishermen will rely on the government for anything as the situation was created by them and so they are now closing it.
