Only about 39,000 fall-run chinook returned to spawn in the Sacramento river system in 2009, the lowest number ever recorded. (Photo: NOAA)

2010 chinook salmon forecast optimistic

UNITED STATES
Monday, March 15, 2010, 17:00 (GMT + 9)

There will at least be limited ocean chinook salmon fishing this year, according to the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC). This will provide the west coast’s salmon industry some relief after seeing its largest closures ever in the past two years.

Federal biologists have predicted that 245,000 fall-run king salmon will swim up the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems to spawn later this year, more than six times the amount that returned in 2009.

The council has been criticised by California officials, however, for fabricating overly optimistic predictions for the Sacramento River. Only a third of the 122,000 chinook expected to return to the river last year actually showed up, The Oregonian reports.

"We have concerns about the way in which the projections have been based," said Harry Morse, a spokesman at the California Department of Fish and Game. "There's no historical precedence for a return from 39,000 to 245,000 fish in one year."

Only about 39,000 fall-run chinook returned to spawn in the Sacramento river system in 2009, the lowest number ever recorded and the third consecutive year of miserable returns. For the past two years, both commercial and recreational fishing were banned off California and most of Oregon’s coast, reports San Francisco Chronicle.

PFMC’s three options would permit at least limited recreational fishing, and two options would allow commercial fishing off California’s coast.

The earliest proposed start for commercial fishing would be 9 May in the Monterey area and the latest 15 July in the Fort Bragg area, pending on which option is chosen next month. The Monterey area season would end earliest on 29 August and the latest fishing would be allowed until 30 September.

Much more fishing would be permitted in Oregon and Washington, with recreational anglers likely to be offered a full season: from 1 May to the end of September.

PFMC plans to recommend one option to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) on 14 April, and NMFS will likely make its decision shortly after.

"It's a pretty limited opportunity for us, no matter how you look at it," said Duncan MacLean, the council’s California salmon troll adviser.

The Central Valley king salmon fall run in September and October has sustained the West Coast fishing industry for decades. Chinook has normally constituted 90 per cent of the salmon caught in California and 60 per cent of that harvested in Oregon.

At its pinnacle in 2002, 769,868 salmon spawned in the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems.

Most fishers and wildlife officials blame the problem on massive state and federal pumps that send water to Southern California, the Bay Area and Central Valley farms - a process that will continue taking place.

Congress has provided USD 170 million to fishing communities in California, Oregon and Washington in disaster relief during the past two years.

Related articles:

- California salmon might stage a comeback
- California returning chinook salmon reach new low
- Commerce secretary extends salmon disaster declaration

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

 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration NOAA/NMFS

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