Home Forums Fishing Saltwater It's Official - Salmon Fishing Banned

Kalifornia Bans Salmon Fishing

MtnHtr

We had a 4 year ban on Stripers (rockfish) and once the ban was lifted we were allowed one fish, now its 2.

The fishing now is fantastic from North Carolina to Maine.

Doc

Not only is there a CA ban, but I read recently about the PMFC cutting the Chinook allotment up in AK by ~50%.

Of course, reports out of Monterey Bay are that there are a lot of salmon under bait balls right now. There's going to be a lot of turmoil if there is a healthy return this year.

Scott

2nd Article

And a recent article for AK: AK 2008 Harvest Forecast WTH?

MtnHtr

Southeast Alaska residents have been cut from three kings per day to one, as of this spring. And the season is effectively closed August 1, because any king caught after then has to be 48" to be kept. That would be in excess of 50 lbs, so not much of that will be happening.

We will see what the returns are, and if the chicken-littling was justified.

DN

We're just waiting for the hammer to fall in BC,limit cuts and closures are on the way.Even the natives have been asked to ration their Fraser River Sockeye catch but that ain't going to happen! Monashee

I was curious how the treaty would affect BC's sportfishing...

This article is talking about all salmon, they are forecasting a pretty low king return this year, but it sounds like Pinks and Chums are going to be pretty solid. Kings make up a very small portion of the total salmon caught in the summer. Most of the chums caught are hatchery fish, I saw the forecast for one small release site around Juneau and they are talking over a million chums returning.

Anyone know what the current regs are in Oregon for the Columbia River, and are the runs still strong enough to make it worth the effort? I haven't fished it in 15 years, and am just curious.

Thank, George

Until we get rid of the dams, decrease silt due to logging and also decrease the native american harvest, nothing wil improve.

ddj

The far greater problem is the allotments which our government sells to international fleets allowing them to enter our territorial waters to fish. These fishing factories are deflowering our fisheries while we don't get to enjoy it at all. I do admit I have been a catch and release guy for over 20 years- my wife and I lived off the land on deer, fish, crab and our garden for so long we don't enjoy salmon much anymore.
The basic facts as stated above about siltation, dams, diversions, roads and the tiny percentage taken by gill net all contribute to the ruination of the fishery. It is the huge international fishing industry that is really destroying the salmon runs.



From a 60 minutes report 2000 (I know, I know 60 minutes isn't the best to use for honest evaluation but it was quick and easy to find.)

"You can put the Indians out of business and the fish are still gonna go extinct," Chaney says. "Why don't we stop giving the aluminum industry all this cheap electricity? Why don't we stop subsidizing the waterway transportation people? Why doesn't somebody else have to give up something? Everybody wants to beat up on the Indians who are catching a tiny, few fish. What's wrong with this picture?"

Whether the dams stay in or eventually come out, either way, there's no end in sight to the spending - $500 million a year and rising. And as we've seen, a lot of it goes to correct the unintended consequences of man's good intentions.


Here's the most our government will do to slap the hands of countries violating our waters. This was only after Whale Watch reported the incident.

President Reagan yesterday cut off Japan's fishing privileges in U.S. waters because of its continued killing of whales, but he declined to impose trade sanctions against Japanese fish exports to the United States.

The action was stronger than required under U.S. law, which mandates a 50 percent reduction in fishing privileges for nations violating an international whale conservation treaty. But the action disappointed conservation groups, which had urged tougher steps to bring Japan into compliance.


This site goes into greater detail on the international view or our problems.


http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=471&ArticleID=5234&l=en



It is a terrible issue. I recall way back when Barry Keene was leading the way to protect our inland waters our Fly-Fishing club along with some great students out of the Marine Studies classes at HSU spent nearly a year working on restoring portions of McDonald creek which was one of the last natural spawning areas for sea-run cutthroat trout. The mandatory moratoriums were in discussion then and we all talked about getting all the fishing in that we could before we couldn't fish anymore. It is sad to think I lived long enough to see it happen.
Frank

+1000.

Logging hasn't silted rivers is decades, and in the past we've had huge runs of fish that seemed to have no problem getting over fish ladders. What we need is robust hatchery programs for steelhead and salmon.

The N. Umpqua used to be legenedary for it's outstanding flyfishing for steelhead. Runs of around 20,000 fish would come up each summer. Well, a few well-meaning but misinformed flyfisherman convinced ODFW that hatchery fish were competing with and reducing the number of wild fish. A run would be something like 17,500 hatherchy fish and 2500 wild fish. They thought the run should be 50/50 hatchery/wild.

So they backed way off on the hatchery program and got their wish. For the last several years there have been 2500 wild fish and 2500 hatchery fish. At first, this exclusive group of N. Umpqua flyfisherman were not affected, because they could still catch fish. However, last summer during the peak of the run, the three best N. Umpqua flyfisherman on planet earth fished hard for two weeks and did not catch a single fish. I guess it's affeting them now too.

I agree that when hatchery programs were first started, the fish were substandard. However, they have figured out how to hatch good quality fish. Hatch boxes are a highly successful way to raise fish that are as good as wild fish. And let's face it, a fish that goes to the ocean and comes back has made the cut, regardless of where he was born.

The natural order of things is for species to increase and decrease, and sometimes they decrease to extinction. That's nature at work. If we want to preserve a species, we need to get involved. Increasing the hatchery program will not only put more fish in the river, it will help protect the wild fish.

Say you have 10,000 mature fish enter the river from the ocean, and 50% are wild fish and 50% hatchery. Then say you lose 5,000 of those fish to a combination of commercial fishing, Indian fishing, sea lions, etc. In this case you will likely have lost 2,500 wild fish and 2,500 hatchery fish, given the 50/50 mix.

However, if 10,000 hatchery and 5,000 wild fish enter the river, and you lose 5,000 fish; you will have lost 1,650 wild fish and 3,350 hatchery fish, given the 67/33 mix.

I say we start robust hatchery programs again ot else will just lose certain species of fish.

Blaine has it right, the whole "silt" and "dam" issue is a non-issue. You can sit and watch thousands of salmon going through the ladders every day.

The problem is the waste of the netted salmon and the complete lack of control, regulation or enforcement. One tribe took 1000% of the legal harvest just two years ago and when busted said ..... Oh well we will try to get a better count next time. They netted so many fish they could not process them properly and it was estimated that 30% to as many as 50% of that catch was lost due to spoilage. There were photo's of Pickup trucks filled with fish and covered with Seagulls pecking at them and crapping all over the truck. Guess where the truck was parked all night, and into the next day? No functional driver to be found! The waste, lack of control, and legal fear of making a decision that would be seen as politically incorrect is a HUGE problem and one that should be policed by the reservations themselves. The way this hurts them in the eyes of the public is horrible and degrading.

How many salmon fit in the back of a full size pickup? How many days does a load like this go to waste, how many thrilled sportsman would there be to catch these same fish?

Washington state is putting in a 10% "temporary surcharge" on all fishing license and hunting license fees for 2010 to get through this economic period. Yeah As if that surcharge will go to F&G. It goes into the general fund, do they think we are all stupid?

Yes.

I agree with all that has been said. My point is that it is easier to net in front of 1 river than the whole ocean. I have seen nets in front on Washington Rivers or along the North end of Whidbey island in narrow straits often during closed seasons. The natives know the fish need to pass through these areas. These are the salmon that would be spawning. They have made it past the commercial canners only to end up in a nativ cannery.

ddj

Silt screws up spawning beds. Damns keep the water warmer. not saying I'm for removal, just saying. To many squaw fish, caspian terns, indians, Oregonians.

A friend of mine and his dad netted a 48" 51 lb. King the other night. Family tradition that I don't have a problem with him and his dad still work hard up in Alaska, the columbia, and used to do real well on smelt. Funny listening to all these fisherman bitch piss and moan about Indians and gillneters yet 95% of those that bitch won't even attened a meeting with the state.

Anyway, MTN Hunter you could always head up to washington! Forcast over a million silvers returning! Some big 'nooks on the way! We'll get six fish limits on the smaller streams before this run is over!

Another friend of mine guides salmon and steelhead all over the northwest. He's easily lost count of Indian nets that he comes across full of dead fish that are going to waste tangled in the brush along the banks of the Chehalis River.

I'm gonna fill the freezer with smoked salmon! Just scored a new hotplate for my frig smoker!

Wondering if I could line my fridge with cedar planks to enhance or store more flavor for my fishes?