(Article from a recent California newspaper)
There are as many theories for
the cause of the Pacific coast salmon crisis as there are fishermen. Here’s
what we know: After a record high run of 804,000 in 2002, only 90,000 adult
chinook returned to the Sacramento River and its tributaries to spawn last
year.
That alarming drop-off means the federal Pacific Fishery Management Council has
to halt salmon fishing along the California and Oregon coasts this year.
The next step will be more complicated: Working with the fishing industry,
environmentalists, farmers and water control agencies to restore the teeming
salmon runs that have been a California hallmark for centuries.
The most widely held theory for the current decline is that a shift in ocean
conditions has harmed the salmon’s food supply. If the change is cyclical, the
salmon run could increase on its own when the currents change again.
But many fishermen believe that deteriorating conditions in the Sacramento-San
Joaquin Delta are contributing to the problem, or that pollution on a broad
scale is destroying the run. Other theories abound. The fishery management
council has already said it will review 46 possible causes.
Salmon fishing brings in $4 billion to the state every year, so cancelling this
season will be painful. But nobody wins if the chinook reach the point of no return.
For the Pacific coast, the salmon is nearly as big an icon as the grizzly,
which now can only be seen on California’s state flag. We’ve learned a few
things about the value of species since the grizzlies vanished. The fishery
council needs a free hand to manage the salmon’s return to the rivers.