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Chinook salmon season looks brighter, council says
2/16/2007 The Oregonian
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PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — After the commercial chinook salmon season turned
into a disaster for Oregon fishermen last year, preseason estimates
indicate there could be some improvement this year.
More than 500,000 Klamath River salmon are estimated to be in the ocean
— about five times the number last year.
"I think it is going to be better, at least in terms of opportunity,"
said Chuck Tracy with the Pacific Fishery Management Council.
It should mean more days on the water for fishermen, who last year were
restricted to less than a month of fishing days in total.
"It's not going to be a good season; we're not going to be fishing wide
open," said Kevin Bastien, a commercial troller out of Newport. "But
we're going to have a little better season than last year."
Last year, the federal government allowed a limited ocean salmon season
that saved most of the recreational fishing industry but severely
restricted the commercial fleet from Northern California up most of the
Oregon Coast.
The recreational fishing season is considered critical to the coastal
economy. Visiting tourists fill hotels and restaurants when they come to
charter fishing boats.
About 60,000 wild fish are expected to return to the Klamath river to
spawn, well above the 35,000 returning salmon that biologists set as a
minimum level. Last year that number was expected to drop to about
21,000 returning fish, but in fact turned out to be about 30,000
returning fish.
The bad news is most of the Klamath salmon this year are 3-year-olds and
will be too small to catch and keep because they are under the 27-inch
limit, Tracy said.
While Klamath River salmon will be smaller, it is salmon from the
Sacramento River in California and the Columbia River that compose much
of the catch off Oregon. If those fish are in abundance, and big enough,
it could lead to a better year for commercial trollers.
Preseason estimates show Sacramento River fish in the ocean will be down
about 20 percent this year. Numbers for Columbia River fish were not
available.
The season normally opens for commercial and recreational fishermen
alike on March 15, meaning a decision on whether to open the season has
to be made by the first week in March. Tracy said the council will
likely make that decision before its meeting scheduled for March 5-9 in
Sacramento.
Information from: The Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com
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Klamath Water Users Association
2455 Patterson Street, Suite 3
Klamath Falls, Oregon 97603
Phone (541) 883-6100
FAX (541) 883-8893
kwua@cvcwireless.net |