California salmon population reaches near-record low
There was a sharp drop in year-over-year stocks of Chinook salmon in California in 2007. Fish stocks dropped almost 88% when compared to 2002, which saw the highest run in recorded history. Scientists, fishermen, and environmentalists are trying to make sense of the data; some believe the decline is related to global warming, while others cite an increase in water exports from spawning areas as the source of the problem.
“The magnitude of the low abundance … is such that the opening of all marine and freshwater fisheries impacting this important salmon stock will be questioned,” he said.
It’s only the second time in 35 years that the Central Valley has not met the agency’s conservation goal of 122,000 to 180,000 returning fish, according to the council, which regulates Pacific Coast fisheries.
More worrisome is that only about 2,000 2-year-old juvenile chinooks — used to predict returns of adult spawners in the coming season — returned to the Central Valley last year, by far the lowest number ever counted. On average, about 40,000 juveniles, or “jacks,” return each year.
Salmon that spawn in Central Valley rivers form the backbone of the West Coast’s commercial and recreational salmon fishery and are caught by fishermen from Southern California to British Columbia.
Of course, the problem is likely a combination of a number of factors, something that industry and government will have to come to grips with when determining fishing policy in the region.
