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Salmon fishing in California will be off-limits for a third consecutive year in what anglers across the state are calling a “human tragedy.” Fishing regulators voted on Tuesday to restrict this year’s season to only a few days due to a dwindling number of salmon. The decision will hit commercial and recreational fishers alike.
A warning came earlier in the year from the Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages West Coast fisheries, that salmon fishing would be limited this year, if possible at all. This was because of the predicted low number of fall-run Chinook salmon, or king salmon, in the Sacramento River.
Scott Artis, executive director of Golden State Salmon Association said: “This closed commercial and token recreational fishing season is a human tragedy, as well as an economic and environmental disaster.”
Salmon fishing, which is very popular in California, has been off limits for the past two years for all kinds of fishers due to shrinking stocks. Commercial fishers have blamed the issue on a drought a few years ago, as well as government water management polices which they say have made it harder for salmon to thrive in the waterways.
Sacramento River fall-run Chinook, historically the largest contributor to the ocean salmon harvest off California and Oregon, have experienced dramatic declines over the last five years, according to the association. The Pacific Fishery Management Council has also voted to highly curtail the commercial salmon fishing season in Oregon this year, the association said.
Salmon must swim upstream to lay their eggs, and young fish then make their way out to the ocean through waterways that wind through the state. That's done more easily when cool water flows are abundant. Agricultural water diversions described as excessive by anglers led to warm river temperatures and low flows when baby salmon were trying to make it from their spawning beds to the ocean.
The closure comes a few months after president Donald Trump ordered officials to find ways to put “people over fish” and route more water to farmers in California’s fertile Central Valley and residents of its densely populated cities.
The ongoing battle over where to route the water and how much tends to pit California environmental groups and anglers against the state’s farm industry, which produces much of the country’s fresh fruit, nuts and vegetables.
Trump contends too much water is being used to protect the tiny delta smelt, a federally threatened species seen as an indicator of the health of the Sacramento- San Joaquin River Delta, but salmon rely on the same water for their survival.
California’s salmon fishing industry includes commercial fleets and charters that take anglers out for recreation. Commercial fleets have been especially hard hit by the closures. Earlier this year, there were fewer than 900 permits for commercial salmon fishing in the state compared to 1,200 in 2010, according to Dock Street Brokers.
Recreational fishing charters have also been hit by the closures and have been devoting their boats to activities ranging from party tours to ash scatterings to stay afloat.
Both have also been fishing for other species but say anglers and markets aren't as interested in halibut or cod as they would be in salmon.
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