‘Fear and panic’ in California fishing community after salmon season closed

April 07, 2023

The California fishing community called for speedy federal relief to those impacted by a full closure of recreational and commercial salmon fishing along the California coast this season at a press conference Friday. They were joined by state officials and prominent politicians, including U.S. House Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.

Gov. Gavin Newsom requested a federal fishery disaster declaration from U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo on Thursday, which would provide expedited relief from the federal government to fishing communities expecting to suffer financial losses from the closure.

U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman, whose district encompasses much of California’s north coast from San Francisco to the Oregon state border, spoke on Pier 47 in front of Scoma’s Restaurant in Fisherman’s Wharf about the need to “put a human face on this challenge.” 

“So often when we hear about salmon, we hear this narrative about fish versus people. We need to remind everyone that this is people when we talk about salmon — people who make their living on the water, and of course I represent a lot of the fishing communities and tribes and tribal members who have depended on healthy salmon runs for a long, long time,” Huffman said.

The 2023 projection for Sacramento River fall chinook and Klamath River fall chinook salmon is one of the lowest stock abundance forecasts on record, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. The closure of the 2023 salmon season — the second time ever, the first having been in 2008 — was unanimously recommended by the Pacific Fishery Management Council on Thursday and is expected to be officially enacted by the National Marine Fisheries Service in mid-May. 

...

For complete article, please visit source link below. 


By:  Claire Hao
Source: San Francisco Chronicle