Peggy Beckett at Half Moon
Bay Sport Fishing said they
were out on whale watching
trips on Sunday 2-28 but
with the recent weather and
swell, they haven’t been
able to muster enough
interest for a squid trip.
Peggy said there were
reports of the sea rising
from 16 to 30 inches in
response to the tsunami in
the Pacific Ocean from the
massive earthquake in Chile.
They have a
few boats which will take
part in the rockfish opener
south of Pigeon Point on May
1st while others
will be waiting for the
season to opener north of
Pigeon Point on June 13th.
Until then Roger Thomas on
the Salty Lady will be
running Humboldt squid trips
when the weather cooperates.
Private
boaters continue to score
limits of crab, averaging
nearly 6 crab per pot, after
longer soaks at depths from
110 to 150 feet. Most
boaters are still locating
lost pots that have walked
the past few weeks. With all
of the consistent crabbing
this year many anglers have
pulled their gear but we
should see an up tick in
interest during the spring
months.
Sheryl Jimno at the Rusty Hook in Pacifica said most fishermen are still
working the pier for a few crab, even in the swell and wind. The swells have
been intermittent with high surf one day before backing down the next. There
are still a few fishermen trying for surf perch.
Sacramento PFMC News
I spent Monday 3-8 in
Sacramento at the PFMC
meeting. Yes there are more
fun things to do but the
PFMC meetings can be quite
entertaining. The entire day
was mostly dedicated to
salmon management. For you
recreational salmon anglers
there was surprisingly good
news and there are currently
three options on the table
that all include a season.
Lengthy ones at that. That
said the Council is meeting
all this week and these
options will likely change
and continue to be modified
later this week and at
meetings in Oregon and
Washington state later this
month and in early April.
The three options range from
a full season (April and
into at least October) with
a 24" min size to a full
season minus May and June
with a 24" min size.
I left during the last
public comment period in the
late afternoon. There were
many recreational anglers
voicing their frustration
that they have been locked
out of fishing for the past
two years and with the
current projections of an
ocean abundance of 245K
kings they deserve a season.
I can feel their frustration
as fishing is not the reason
for the decline of the
fishery. They made an
excellent showing (my hat
goes off to all who took a
day off of work and traveled
many miles to voice your
opinion. ) and it seemed the
Council heard their
concerns.
Many professional
fisherman representing party
boats, commercial anglers
and guide associations were
actually voicing the
opposite opinion, that they
favored that the Council err
on the conservative side and
not open the season this
year. Their biggest concern
is one we highlighted in a
story a couple of weeks
back, that the jack counts
to actual returns have been
far lower than projected.
The good news is that there
are options to allow fishing
this season. The bad news is
that projections over the
past three years have fallen
short by as much as 70%.
The other concern is the
high
impact by recreational
anglers on Central Valley
winter run stocks that have
dropped from over 7000 fish
to about 2000 the past year.
We will know much more as
the meetings progress and
will post updates as they
are released.
Personally, I'm in the
conservation camp and that's
coming from a die hard
salmon angler. Given the
just 30 to 50% return to
projections of the past
three years I don't feel
that we should risk
impacting returns this
season. Just my .02. Given
the past two years of
drought and the possibility
of El Nino conditions along
the coast this year, fishing
will only add stress to a
fishery in serious decline.
Yes I (and others in the
conservation camp) will be
thrown under the bus again
by others (debate me over
coffee but not in some
anonymous thread) but I call
it like I see it and always
have. What I really disagree
with is when I read postings
by the completely
misinformed against groups
that have been fighting for
our salmon seasons decades.
It's important for all
angler groups to stay
focused on the one goal we
all agree on, the recovery
of our salmon stocks. No,
fishing did not cause this
decline but we all have to
work together in addressing
the real issues (like the
40% increase in water
diversions out of the Delta)
not against each other.
We will post updates as news
as it comes in.
Mike
Salmon Surprise or
Blue Plate Special?
February 28th
The PFMC announced in
February
that there could be
enough salmon swimming
off the coast to allow
for an ocean salmon season in
2010.
This has taken many in
the sportfishing
community, including
this writer completely
by surprise. After we
saw the lowest
salmon escapement on record
last fall that we could
return to fishing this
year. The PFMC is
projecting that 245,000
salmon are currently
swimming off the coast.
This projection is based
on the 9000 jacks that
returned in the fall of
2009. The adult fall run
escapement goals for the
Central Valley are based
on a floor of 122,000
and an upper goal of
180,000. If this number
is accurate (which is
very questionable) then
ocean salmon anglers
could see a limited
season this summer.
After a couple of days
to digest the latest
numbers I'm a bit of a
skeptic that we will see
anything close to an
actual season or if the
fishery can handle any
harvest. The reasons are
several.
One: Being that
F&G and the PFMC have
(way) over estimated the
number of returning
salmon the past few
years. From an
escapement of about 4000
jacks in 2008 they
estimated that 122,000
fish would RSVP to spawn
this past fall. Only one
third or 39,000 actually
showed up for the party.
This was despite the
closure of nearly all
the coast for the past
two years.
Jacks
are used as a predictor of
the following year's
return. Simply put a
"jack" is a two year old
(usually male) salmon
that is returning a year
early. Most salmon spawn
as three and (less
often) four year olds so
when the jack count is
high it shows that that
particular year class
should also be strong.
This is just one
indicator that fishery
biologists use to
estimate runs but it
holds the highest value.
Over the past four years
these estimates have
been increasingly
inaccurate and the
recent (four year) trend is that
they are grossly over
estimated.
Two: How
accurate are the
numbers?
All F&G employees have
been furloughed 3 days
per month over the past
year. (Have you been to
DMV lately?) My point
being it's hard to do
your job and do it well
if you don't have the
time, budget or manpower
to properly complete
your responsibilities.
I'm not one prone to
conspiracy theories but
I lack confidence in the
department's numbers. In
recent years F&G has
been pulling numbers
seemingly out of thin
air. Remember just four
years ago when they
estimated that fewer
than 10,000 sturgeon
were left in the system
and the fishery should
be severely limited. Or
several years ago when
they estimated the
numbers of rockfish
being harvested by
counting the number of
private boat trailers
parked at coastal
launches on a particular
day and then extrapolate
those number out for the
entire week.
That's not science, it's
a wild ass guess or WAG.
Counting fish returning
to a hatchery is pretty
straight forward but how
accurate are the numbers
when it comes to the
fish spawning in the
rivers? This to is often
based on the WAG.
Many of the prodigy of
wild or naturally
produced salmon never
make it back out to sea.
While we are trucking
hatchery salmon around
the Delta (a short term
solution that doesn't
address the real
problem) most juvenile
wild salmon are starving
on their out migration
through the Delta.
Three: The WAG
method that the PFMC
uses for fishery
management no longer
works. We need to build
in flexibility into the
system to allow in state
fishery managers to
actually manage these
fisheries and be
responsible for them.
Better put, to open,
extend or close the
fishery in season due to
the numbers of salmon
being caught or
returning to the river.
Such as allowing
in-river fishing only
when it is apparent that
lower escapement goals
will be met and
increasing harvest when
the upper escapement is
met and having to answer
for your decisions.
(This is how Alaska
manages their salmon
fisheries, with
escapement goals and a
regional biologist
responsible
for increasing harvest
when the goals are met
and closing a fishery
when they fall short).
In short let the feds
set guidelines and let
the states manage.
Four: What other
factors are impacting
salmon numbers that are
not taken into account?
We know that increased
water diversion out of
the delta is one of the
biggest factors of the
decline but what about
the huge decrease in the
numbers of hatchery fish
being released the past
7 years? Or the ever
increasing numbers of
marine mammals,
(sealions up over 1000%
in the past 30 years),
impacts by the
increasing numbers of
Humboldt squid along the
coast the past several
years, ocean food
production, drought, El
Nino, waste water
releases, Delta and river
water quality?
It's because of these
dynamics that we need
real time fishery
management, not WAGs
that set seasons months
in advance to live and
die by. This would help
ensure that enough fish
return to seed future
runs.
Five: Politics
and water, need I say
more. We have a governor
who wants to build a
multi billion dollar
water system to send
(our) water to his
political base in the
(desert) south. Worse
yet even Senator
Feinstein has now
proposed to divert more
water to farmers by
lifting regulations that
were put in place to
help salmon
fisheries recover. The
reality is that if the
CV fall run is declared
threatened or endangered
the courts would
eventual intervene and
far lass water would be
diverted to farmers.
That's a lose lose
proportion and shows why
farmers (you would be
surprised at how many
do) should support
healthy salmon
populations.
A better answer is to do
away with the junior
water right holders in
Westlands and stop all
subsidized water
deliveries (2 million
acre feet in 2006) to
cotton farmers, many who
then in turn collect
huge crop subsidies of
up to $250K from the
Feds. There
would be more than
enough water to share
with southern residents,
grow food crops and
support our fisheries.
Bottom line is that the
salmon fishery can not
recover until the Delta
is healthy again.
The PFMC will be meeting
again in March and April
and the final salmon
season (if any) will be
announced. It's the
March meeting that will
tell us what the options
will be. I would hope
that all options will be
conservative and be
designed to ensure the
future health of our
salmon fishery.
We will post updates as
additional news in
announced at the March
and April PFMC
meetings.
Be sure
to support the groups
that are fighting for a
sustainable Delta and in
turn all of our
fisheries that are
connected to it.
Mike
fishsite@aol.com
In
the Chronicle
there was an excellent
article posted "War
on Salmon". Cynthia
Koehler and Brian Nelson
did an excellent job of
showing the cause and
effect of increased
water diversion out of
the delta on salmon. Someone may
want to drop the
Governor a copy.
Upcoming Events:
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is taking reservations for
rockfish and ling trips
650 726-7133
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Sportfishing
with captain Dennis
Baxter is now taking
reservations for
charters
(650) 726-6224
Great Links:
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Reports will resume when
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