California’s Chinook-salmon fishery is ready to brighten the face of many fishermen as the season is expected to be opened up after long closure. The season was closed for two times and now the season is likely to be opened up but with restrictions. According to recommendations released by a federal panel fishermen in Oregon and Washington are poised to have an even better season because fish are more abundant there.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council approved three options outlining where West Coast fishermen might be allowed to cast their lines and nets beginning this spring. Council Chairman David Ortmann said that final confirmation on the decision is yet to be done and it is very much sure that California’s salmon fishery will not be closed altogether.
But the fishing off California would be limited for both commercial and recreational boats. Restrictions on when and where fishermen could travel are proposed because of concern about the decline in chinook over the past three years. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesman Guy Norman informed that the Sacramento directly affects fishing off Central Oregon’s coast, but has little impact on Washington’s. Forecasts call for the Columbia to see 559,000 spring chinook, the largest return since 1938. The three options federal managers are considering for recreational chinook fishing all call for quotas at least double those of last year.
