Sacramento River Salmon Populations Plunge to Lowest Level Since 1992

More peachy news on the environmental front from the Sacramento Bee:

Fall-run chinook salmon that make a home in the Sacramento River and its tributaries fell last year to their lowest numbers since 1992, according to estimates by the Pacific Fishery Management Council.

This is a surprise to fisheries managers, because the population was expected to be strong after commercial fishing was drastically curtailed last year to protect Klamath River fish. The rebound for Klamath salmon is likely to mean better fortunes for Pacific coast commercial fishermen this year.

Source: News – Sacramento River salmon take a dive – sacbee.com

It remains to be seen what this will mean to the commercial salmon fishing season, but the numbers are chilling:

That population includes American River fall-run chinook, and only 8,728 salmon returned to the Nimbus Hatchery on the river last fall, according to the state Department of Fish and Game. That’s the smallest number since 1997, well below the 2005 return of 22,349 fish. (ED: emphasis mine)

Ouch. The eggheads we pay to protect salmon stocks (and aren’t we getting our money’s worth) suggest the lack of an upwelling of food organisms, current changes, and perhaps “bad mojo” are causing the decline (OK, I added the “mojo”).

In truth, they don’t know. They don’t have a clue why the Central Valley salmon are suffering when the Klamath stocks have come back some, but there it is.

I’m taking orders for the Trout Underground’s new bumper sticker:

“Save a Salmon. Eat a Dam.”

As always, alternate bumper sticker concepts are welcome.

[tags]salmon, sacramento river, sacramento, nimbus, chinook, [/tags]