NYT - "Almost Complete Collapse" Of Sacramento River Chinook Salmon Run

[hatrack]

SACRAMENTO — Where did they go? The Chinook salmon that swim upstream to spawn in the fall, the most robust run in the Sacramento River, have disappeared. The almost complete collapse of the richest and most dependable source of Chinook salmon south of Alaska left gloomy fisheries experts struggling for reliable explanations — and coming up dry.

Whatever the cause, there was widespread agreement among those attending a five-day meeting of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council here last week that the regional $150 million fishery, which usually opens for the four-month season on May 1, is almost certain to remain closed this year from northern Oregon to the Mexican border. A final decision on salmon fishing in the area is expected next month.

As a result, Chinook, or king salmon, the most prized species of Pacific wild salmon, will be hard to come by until the Alaskan season opens in July. Even then, wild Chinook are likely to be very expensive in markets and restaurants nationwide. “It’s unprecedented that this fishery is in this kind of shape,” said Donald McIsaac, executive director of the council, which is organized under the auspices of the Commerce Department.

Fishermen think the Sacramento River was mismanaged in 2005, when this year’s fish first migrated downriver. Perhaps, they say, federal and state water managers drained too much water or drained at the wrong time to serve the state’s powerful agricultural interests and cities in arid Southern California. The fishermen think the fish were left susceptible to disease, or to predators, or to being sucked into diversion pumps and left to die in irrigation canals. But federal and state fishery managers and biologists point to the highly unusual ocean conditions in 2005, which may have left the fingerling salmon with little or none of the rich nourishment provided by the normal upwelling currents near the shore.

EDIT

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/17/science/earth/17salmon.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[pscot]

1. Interestingly, the fishermen never, ever

blame themselves.

[sandnsea]

2. It's the entire west coast salmon population

and it is mostly federal water management. The salmon were actually making a remarkable recovery before Bush got into office and they started giving water to farmers instead of caring for the fish.

[Kittycat]

3. Ben Stein told us to eat up - they had a full supply

:shrug:

[XemaSab]

4. I know what we can do!

Let's raise Shasta Dam 12.5 feet! Yeah!