Only 39,530 natural and hatchery Sacramento River Fall chinook adults returned to the Sacramento River basin to spawn in 2009. (Photo: Stock File/FIS)

California returning chinook salmon reach new low

UNITED STATES
Monday, February 15, 2010, 09:50 (GMT + 9)

The Pacific Fisheries Management Council (PFMC) released figures on Thursday showing that California’s once plentiful salmon runs came in at an all-time record low in 2009, according to the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations (PCFFA) and Water for Fish.

An estimated total of only 39,530 natural and hatchery Sacramento River Fall chinook adults returned to the Sacramento River basin to spawn in 2009, and in 2008, a then-record low of just 66,000 fall-run fish returned. The minimum number for long-term sustainability of chinook salmon is 122,000, Bay Area Indymedia reports.

Authorities were expecting numbers to rise.

"It's worse than we thought. There's no way in hell we have a season this year," said Zeke Grader, executive director of the PCFFA, reports Contra Costa Times.

“If we wipe our salmon out, we’ll also be wiping out generations of fishing families from the central California coast to northern Oregon that have all relied on king salmon from the Sacramento River to make a living," Grader added. 

A direct correlation has been noted: while the last three years of salmon returns have each set new record lows, those three years have been some of the highest of Delta water diversions, Grader said. The problem is that Delta pumping causes fatalities of juvenile salmon migrating past the Delta to the open sea.

Surviving salmon take three years to return as adults, and that is also how long it takes scientists to record the full effect of the pumps.

“We’re watching our salmon disappear in exact concert with a 16 per cent increase of Delta water diversions over the last decade,” said Dick Pool, administrator of water4fish.org.

University of California at Davis fisheries biologist Peter Moyle thinks chinook salmon could now be deemed an endangered species.
"Given these trends, that should be seriously considered," he said.

Salmon runs and numerous other fish species in the Delta collapsed in 2007 following a drastic boost in pumping of water southward.

Another problem is that now the fall-run is dominated by fish from hatcheries that were constructed to keep fish after dams were built - and blocked the majority of the salmon spawning grounds. These hatchery fish, lacking generic diversity, cannot cope with stresses as adeptly as a wild population can.

Meanwhile, thousands of people are losing their jobs.

"Southwick Associates have estimated that the season closures have cost an estimated 23,000 jobs and USD 2.8 billion in the California economy alone," Pool informed.

Related articles:

- Commerce secretary extends salmon disaster declaration
- Bleak outlook for salmon fishery
- Bad salmon run kills fishing prospects

By Natalia Real
[email protected]
www.seafood.media

Print