In a , federal fishery managers unanimously voted today to cancel all commercial and recreational salmon fishing off the coast of California .
The decision is designed to protect California鈥檚 dwindling salmon populations after drought and left river for the state鈥檚 iconic Chinook salmon to thrive.
Salmon abundance forecasts for the year 鈥渁re just too low,鈥� Marci Yaremko, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife鈥檚 appointee to the Pacific Fishery Management Council, said last week. 鈥淲hile the rainfall and the snowpacks have improved, the stocks and their habitats just need another year to recover.鈥�
State and federal agencies are now expected to implement the closures for ocean fishing. Had the season not been in question again this year, recreational boats would likely already be fishing off the coast of California, while the commercial season typically runs from May through October.
In addition, the California Fish and Game Commission will decide next month whether to cancel inland salmon fishing in California rivers this summer and fall.
The closure means that California restaurants and consumers will have to look elsewhere for salmon, in a major blow to an industry to be worth roughly half a billion dollars.
鈥淚t鈥檚 catastrophic,鈥� said Tommy 鈥淭F鈥� Graham, a commercial fisherman based in Bodega Bay who now drives a truck delivering frozen and farmed salmon and other fish. 鈥淚t means another summer of being forced to do something you don鈥檛 want to do, instead of doing something you love.鈥�
About 鈥� a mainstay of the fishery 鈥� are estimated to be swimming off the coast. Though that鈥檚 an improvement over last year, the forecast remains the second-lowest on record since the fishery was closed in 2008 and 2009, Yaremko told the Pacific fishery council.
The numbers this year, plus the fact that the forecasts for salmon returning to spawn are , 鈥渁dd concern,鈥� Yaremko said.
Many in the fishing industry say they support the closure, but urged state and federal officials to do more to improve conditions in the rivers salmon rely on. Fishing advocates and environmentalists have lambasted Gov. Gavin Newsom鈥檚 administration for and in the vital Bay-Delta watershed.
鈥淥ur fishing fleets and coastal communities can not be the only ones making sacrifices to save these fish,鈥� said Sarah Bates, who owns a commercial fishing boat called the Bounty, berthed at Fisherman鈥檚 Wharf in San Francisco. 鈥淲ater policy needs to take the health of our river ecosystems seriously.鈥�
The closure comes as the fishing industry promised from last year鈥檚 salmon fishery closures, which state officials estimated to have . The fishing industry says that鈥檚 a vast underestimate.
鈥淪ome fishermen have already lost their businesses and many will in the coming months,鈥� said RJ Waldron, who runs a charter fishing business out of the East Bay. Last year鈥檚 closure dried up his customers, and he put his sportfishing boat up for sale months ago.
鈥淢y dream of being a charter boat owner is very much a nightmare now.鈥�