Page 4 - ARUBA TODAY

A4 U.S. NEWS
Friday 23 august 2019
California sails toward biggest salmon harvest in years

By TERENCE CHEA Lorraine Loomis, Northwest
Associated Press Indian Fisheries Commission
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — chair. In Alaska, state wild-
Trolling off the California life officials who oversee
coast, Sarah Bates leans salmon are monitoring re-
over the side of her boat ports of fish dying in warm
and pulls out a long, silvery rivers. The state in July re-
fish prized by anglers and corded its warmest month,
seafood lovers: wild king and heat stress is suspect-
salmon. ed in the deaths of pink
Reeling in a fish “feels good and chum salmon in rivers
every time,” but this year that empty into the Bering
has been surprisingly good, Sea, including the Yukon
said Bates, a commercial and Kuskokwim rivers.
troller based in San Fran- California’s strong salmon
cisco. season, which typically
She and other California runs from May to October,
fishermen are reporting offers some positive envi-
one of the best salmon fish- ronmental news at a time
ing seasons in years, thanks of growing anxiety about
to heavy rain and snow climate change. A United
that ended the state’s his- Nations report released this
toric drought. month warns that global
It’s a sharp reversal for chi- In this photo taken Wednesday, July 17, 2019, Sarah Bates hauls in a chinook salmon on the fishing warming threatens food
nook salmon, also known boat Bounty near Bolinas, Calif. supplies worldwide.
as king salmon, an iconic Associated Press Morgenstern says climate
species that helps sustain been particularly strong in extremely low catches that fishery disasters in 2018 to change is creating greater
many Pacific Coast fishing Morro Bay, Monterey and resulted from poor ocean assist fishing communities fluctuations in ocean and
communities. San Francisco, but weaker conditions and California’s in California, Oregon and river conditions, making
Commercial salmon catch- along California’s north- five-year drought, which Washington. chinook fisheries “less sta-
es have surpassed official ern coast. “We’re really drained the state’s rivers This year’s adult salmon ble, less predictable and
preseason forecasts by surprised to be seeing this and reservoirs. are the first class to ben- more challenging for fish-
about 50%, said Kandice many fish being landed so Over the past several years, efit from record rainfall ery managers.”
Morgenstern, a marine sci- far this season,” Morgen- regulators imposed severe that filled California rivers Most of the chinook salm-
entist with the California stern said. fishing restrictions to pro- and streams in early 2017, on now being caught in
Department of Fish and The salmon rebound tect chinook salmon, and making it easier for juvenile California come from the
Wildlife. Harvests have comes after three years of officials declared federal chinook to migrate to the Sacramento River and
Pacific Ocean, where they its tributaries, where they
grow into full-size fish. spawn. Many were raised
Chinook salmon are also in state-run hatcheries then
being helped by improved released into rivers to swim
ocean conditions that to the ocean. Harvests of
have produced an abun- chinook from rivers far-
dance of anchovies, krill ther north have not been
and other feed. Several strong.
years ago, an El Nino event For consumers, the bounti-
brought unusually warm ful harvest has driven down
water to the Pacific Coast wild salmon prices to $15 to
and disrupted the marine $20 per pound, compared
ecosystem. with $30 to $35 per pound
“For the salmon fishermen in recent years. Fishermen
who’ve been dealing with are making up for the dif-
disaster for so long, this is ference by catching more
an incredible boon to their fish. “The market is dictat-
livelihoods,” said Noah Op- ing right now that there’s
penheim, who heads the a lot of salmon, so the cus-
Pacific Coast Federation of tomers don’t have to pay
Fishermen’s Associations. as much,” said Gordon
Anglers in the Pacific North- Drysdale, culinary direc-
west have not been so for- tor at Scoma’s, a seafood
tunate. A dearth of chinook restaurant at Fisherman’s
returning to the Columbia Wharf in San Francisco.
River and Puget Sound are The wharf is one of many
a major factor in the plum- California fishing com-
meting population of the munities benefiting from
region’s endangered killer the salmon boom. Pier 45,
whales. where boats unload their
“The forecast of poor chi- fish, hasn’t been this busy in
nook returns to western many years, said Larry Col-
Washington is proving ac- lins, who runs the San Fran-
curate, but it’s still very cisco Community Fishing
early in the season,” said Association.q