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Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez today declared a commercial fishery failure for the West Coast salmon fishery due to historically low salmon returns. Also today, NOAA’s Fisheries Service issued regulations to close or severely limit recreational and commercial salmon fishing in the area.
“The unprecedented collapse of the salmon population will hit fishermen, their families, and fishing communities hard, and that is why we have moved quickly to declare a fishery disaster,” Gutierrez said. “Our scientists are working to better understand the effects that ocean changes have on salmon populations. We are also working closely with fishing communities to improve salmon habitat in river systems to support sustainable fishing.” |
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Hundreds of thousands of fall Chinook salmon typically return to the Sacramento River every year to spawn. This year, scientists estimate that fewer than 60,000 adult Chinook will make it back to the Sacramento River.
”This is far below what is needed to sustain the population and we have decided to shut down the commercial ocean salmon fishery for all of California and most of Oregon to aid their recovery,” said Jim Balsiger, NOAA’s Fisheries Service acting assistant administrator. “It’s a tough decision, but the condition of the salmon fishery forces us to close most of it to ensure healthy runs of this valuable fish in the future.” |
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