Federal fisheries managers meeting in Portland, Ore., this week weigh potential effects of fishing on depleted Sacramento River salmon stocks. It is fact that for the last few years the fishing season has been so constrained that almost any of the options the Pacific Fishery Management Council is considering don’t look so bad.
Commercial fishermen still face closures along the California coast, though other options include some time on the water. The PFMC can also choose to blend options presented to it in March, but the aim will remain to ease the impacts on the most critical population of salmon in the Sacramento River system.
Eureka charter boat operator Phil Glenn believes that there is a good chance the sport salmon season could stretch between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Last year, Glenn fished almost exclusively for halibut and rockfish on his boat the Shellback, as there was only one week open for salmon in the area.
This year PFMC estimated that slightly more than 122,000 salmon would return to the Sacramento in 2009, allowing only a small sport fishery off Eureka and Crescent City in the fall. However, only 39,500 chinook actually returned — far fewer than the number believed needed to sustain the fishery.
Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association President Aaron Newman to the PFMC recently that they feel it is essential to have greater fishing opportunity in the northern region so that more plentiful stocks to the north are accessed while shifting effort away from Sacramento stocks. Discussion is expected to focus on the contribution to ocean salmon stocks by other rivers in Northern California, like the Klamath.
