The bullet points? They’re not pretty:

• If present trends continue, 65% of native salmon, steelhead, and trout species will be extinct within 100 years or sooner.
• Sixty-five percent of the species headed towards extinction are found only in California
• Of the state’s 22 anadromous fish species (which spawn in freshwater and live most of their adult lives in the ocean), 59% are in danger of extinction
• Of the state’s nine living native inland fish, 78% are in danger of extinction

Click image to download a copy of: SOS: California's Native Fish Crisis

Here’s the lead from the Press Release:

San Francisco, CA – Fish and watershed advocacy group California Trout today released the first-ever comprehensive report chronicling the status of each of California’s native fish species (salmon, steelhead, and trout). SOS: California’s Native Fish Crisis was written and researched by Dr. Peter Moyle, UC Davis professor and renowned expert on California’s water systems and the fish that inhabit them.

In truth, the news isn’t that surprising; many of the region-specific trout sub-species are relegated to tiny redoubts and hybridizing with introduced populations, and the over-allocation of California’s water resources is severely stressing salmon, steelhead populations.

CalTrout notes fishing is a $2 Billion industry in California, and the Trout Underground would like to note that the fishing part of the state’s economy could be sustainable (largely “free”) – given a modicum of clean, cold water and a little attention.

The find out more (and find links to the report, which features the attractive cover shown above), simply click on the link: “SOS: California’s Native Fish Crisis”

To read the report itself, click here.

See you reading, Tom Chandler.

Early season salmon fishing off the coasts of California and most of Oregon was shut down Wednesday by federal regulators responding to an unprecedented collapse of salmon populations along the West Coast.

The actions affect commercial and recreational fishing seasons either underway or scheduled to open in the coming weeks. When they meet again next month, regulators are likely to close the bigger fishing seasons that come later in the year.

Specifically, a small recreational fishing season off Fort Bragg that opened in mid-February will close April 1. Other recreational fishing seasons from San Francisco to the Mexican border that were scheduled to open April 5 have been closed.

This report from the Contra Costa Times says the later salmon seasons will probably be canceled as well — the product of a disastrous 2007 fall chinook salmon run on the Sacramento River.

Ocean conditions, delta pumping blamed

The Sacramento chinook had been the backbone of the west coast salmon runs, but with less than 90,000 adults returning to spawn (second lowest number on record) and a dismal number of two year-old “jack” salmon counted (less than 2,000), it appears the commission thinks even a recreational sport fishery isn’t warranted.

Next year’s salmon run could easily fall below 60,000, so any salmon fishery that might impact the Sacramento’s Fall chinook run will likely be affected.

This spells trouble (or even the end of) the west coast salmon fleet, which has already been rocked by the 2006 closure to protect failing Klamath River salmon runs.

The blame game is fully underway, and while Pacific Fishery Management Council scientists point the finger at oceanic conditions (lack of nutrients at the bottom of the food chain), others feel that increased pumping from the Delta — leading to the collapse of several native species — is a contributing factor.

You can read the whole Contra Costa Times article here, and the Seattle Times article here.

See you buying salmon belly futures, Tom Chandler.

Technorati Tags: salmon,endangered salmon,sacramento chinook salmon,commercial salmon fishing,chinook salmon

From the LA Times:

SACRAMENTO — – Faced with an “unprecedented collapse” of California’s Central Valley salmon population, federal regulators warned Tuesday that the West Coast fishing industry is on course toward steep restrictions this year.

The number of chinook salmon returning to the Sacramento River plummeted to near historic lows last year, and fishery experts are predicting similarly light returns this year.

Donald McIsaac, director of the Pacific Fishery Management Council, said the reason for the decline remains unclear.

There’s been a lot of speculation about the non-availability of food for juvenile salmon due to ocean conditions (which many scientists are linking to climate change issues), yet one group remains convinced the problem is at least partially due to Delta water diversions:

The Sacramento River’s “missing salmon” were juveniles migrating to sea in spring 2005, when state and federal water managers “set records for pumping delta water south,” said Mike Sherwood, an attorney with Earthjustice, a nonprofit environmental legal group that has been jousting with water managers over water exports.

The Environmental News Service is carrying a slightly more detailed article than the LA Times, but you don’t really have to read the fine print to guess what comes next.

Fishing closures (both sport and commercial), the inevitable government payouts, and yes — the finger pointing.

There are a lot of people hoping this is a one-time event, but the low number of returning “jack” salmon (two year-old fish) suggests poor returns in 2008.

Is this an artifact of global climate change? Are the ghosts of all those delta water diversions and habitat compromises finally coming back to haunt us?

See you buying tofu, Tom Chandler.

UPDATES: Singlebarbed weighed in last night. Now the Eugene, Oregon Register Guard considers the economic consequences to Oregon’s coastal fishing communities — already pummeled by Klamath-related closures and this year’s disastrously low catches:

Earlier this year, the Oregon Salmon Commission released figures that depict one of the worst salmon seasons on record. The fleet landed 463,500 pounds, about 20,000 pounds less than in 2006 — a more restricted season. Between 1979 and 2007, chinook landings have averaged more than 2 million pounds. In only two of those years have landings dropped below 500,000 pounds.

The fleet earned $2.6 million in 2007, slightly less than what trollers brought in the year before, despite the highest price per pound fishermen have fetched since 1981: $5.64.

Technorati Tags: salmon,chinook salmon,central valley salmon,endangered salmon,sacramento river salmon,unprecedented collapse,salmon recovery