Wild salmon crisis hits US West Coast with closure of California, Oregon chinook fisheries

The Pacific Fishery Management Council voted on Thursday, 8 April to recommend the closure of the 2023 commercial chinook salmon fishery from the northern coast of the U.S. state of Oregon to the Mexico border. 

The U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service is likely to accept the recommendation, which will go into effect prior to the season’s start in mid-May, according to a statement issued by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, which said the PFMC based its decision off low ocean abundance forecasts and low 2022 returns.

Separately, in March, the chinook fishery between the Sacramento River in California and Cape Falcon, Oregon, was canceled through 15 May. And the CDFW is considering an additional closure of inland salmon fisheries, with a decision to be made by 17 May.

“This decision, while difficult, is intended to allow salmon to recover in order to provide future fishing opportunities", California Department of Fish and Wildlife Director Charlton H. Bonham said. “Salmon are an iconic species in California. We treasure them for their intrinsic, cultural, recreational, and commercial values. The state is committed to ensuring long-term survival of our salmon runs and supporting our struggling fishing communities. We are looking into all possible options to bring relief as soon as possible to fishing businesses to addresses costs incurred to maintain their commercial licenses and lost revenue when the season is entirely closed.”

Bohman blamed “prolonged and historic drought, severe wildfires and associated impacts to spawning and rearing habitat, harmful algal blooms, and ocean forage shifts” for creating conditions leading the lowest stock abundance forecasts on record for Sacramento River Fall chinook and Klamath River Fall chinook fisheries. Federal researchers also found two insecticides used on crops in Oregon and California – carbaryl and methomyl – are harming salmon species, including chinook salmon.

On 6 April, California Governor Gavin Newsom requested a federal fishery disaster declaration for the 2023 Sacramento River fall chinook and Klamath River fall chinook ocean and inland salmon fisheries. In his letter to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, he said the closure of the two fisheries will result in an expected loss of more than USD 45 million (EUR 41.2 million), based on the fishery’s five-year average annual ex-vessel value of USD 15 million (EUR 13.8 million), combined with secondary services to the commercial fishery and revenue from charters, guides, and recreational fishing.

“Countless families, coastal communities and tribal nations depend on salmon fishing – it’s more than an industry, it’s a way of life. That’s why we’re requesting expedited relief from the federal government,” Newsom said. “We’re committed to working with the Biden administration and Congress to ensure California’s fisheries aren’t left behind."

At a press conference on 7 April, U.S. Rep. Jared Huffman (D-California) called for the awarding of federal funding for the disaster declaration to be delivered within months.

"In years past, it has sometimes taken a long time to get disaster relief to the people who need it - in some cases, two years or more. That's not going to work right now," Huffman said. "This fishery closure comes on the heels of other impacts, including a really difficult Dungeness crab season. So we can't afford to wait years and we have to bring this aid home in a matter of a few months."

Bonham said commercial fishers were largely supportive of the closures.

“This closure is painful,” Bonham said. “We deeply appreciate the fishing community in California voicing support for this serious step to help these stocks recover. We have worked with our commercial and recreational partners over the years to rebuild other fisheries following closures and now some of those, like some groundfish populations, are providing opportunities for fishing for the first time in years.”

Jim Yarnall, a member of the PFMC salmon advisory subpanel of fishing and tribal representatives, said he hopes this year’s closure can help the species to recover.

“Obviously everyone wants to fish, but most fishermen understood the status of where the salmon are and understand they need to make sure those salmon stocks remain healthy. Taking a pause of a year – so hopefully the salmon has time to regain their strength – seems appropriate,” he said. ““If there’s a silver lining in all of this, California has been wet here since December. Snowpack is high. The reservoirs are filling and salmon are an amazingly resilient species. If we get out of the way and given half a chance, you can see them bouncing right back in three years to an abundant fish stock.” 

In the meantime, hatcheries are aiming to fill the gap left by low returns of wild salmon. Mt Lassen, a Red Bluff, California-based trout and steelhead producer, released 100,000 winter-run chinook salmon smolt it grew in its hatchery over the past year into Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento River. Federal biologists will use coded-wire tags and acoustic tags to monitor the fish after release, which occurred 23 March. The acoustic tags allow for real-time tracking of fish when they are released into the creek and coded-wire tags will be used for long-term monitoring of fish when they are captured as adults, tracking their survival and spawning success.

“It is an honor to play even a small role in the restoration of the Battle Creek Watershed,” Mt Lassen Co-Owner Phil Mackey said in a release. “This is something very unique, and we are extremely proud to have the opportunity to continue to be involved in these ambitious efforts.”

On 5 April, Huffman announced the awarding of USD 65.9 million (EUR 60.4 million) to upgrade the Trinity River Hatchery. 

“Fully operational fish hatcheries are a vital part of the local economy and ecosystems on the North Coast. The recovery of threatened coho and chinook salmon depends on the work the Trinity River Hatchery is doing, and it’s important the facility can run at top notch,” Huffman said. “After 60 years of use, most of the systems in this building have outlived their usefulness and are in disrepair.”

In March, ProPublica reported on shortcomings in the U.S. salmon hatchery system. An influx of federal funding, much of it from the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, is coming too late to help existing salmon stocks, and may still not be enough to alleviate the dire situation facing the U.S. West Coast’s chinook salmon, it reported on 28 March.

Photo courtesy of California Department of Fish and Wildlife