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Richard Pombo is at it Again

Facts About Klamath River Salmon and the 2006 Ocean Salmon Season

1. A Parasite, not fishing, is the cause of low numbers of Klamath Salmon

The low predicted abundance of Klamath fall-run chinook is due to an outbreak of a lethal parasite (C. Shasta) that has infected and killed massive numbers of salmon in the river beginning in 2002. A second parasite (Parvicapsula minibicornis) has also been found in the river infecting the salmon. California Department of Fish & Game tests last year indicated 80 percent of the outmigrating juveniles were infected; the mortality rate is 100 percent!

2. Until parasite effects set in, fishery was meeting goal for returning fish to river  

Through 2002, fishermen have met and exceeded the goal set for the number of fish (the 35,000 natural spawner escapement “floor”) returning to the Klamath River needed for optimum productivity.  Only after the affects of the parasite on the fish population were felt have the number of returns fallen below this “floor,” clearly indicating it is the parasite and not fishing that is the problem.

3. Parasite has flourished in river due to low flows, warm water, poor water quality

The parasite, which is believed to be natural to the river, has flourished in the Klamath as a result of low flows, warm water, and poor water quality. Flushing flows and high quality, cool water are necessary to rid the infestation in the river (low flows are a result of the drought and low rainfall the basin has suffered until this year, coupled with up-stream agricultural diversions; the poor water quality is attributable to the reservoirs behind the four lower dams on the Klamath where warm, still waters facilitate toxic algal outbreaks and impairment of water quality).

4.  No intervention has taken place to protect the fish from the parasite.

To date, no action (intervention) has been taken by the responsible federal agencies to either help the fish – the adult fish (spawners) or their babies (progeny) - to avert the infected areas of the river through any trapping or trucking program, nor have any artificial propagation programs been established to maximize survival of those fish ordinarily spawning and rearing in the wild. As a result, the restrictions fishermen are under to get fish back to the river have been met with futility since the parasite is being allowed to kill most of the fish in-river.

5. No action has been taken to improve flows or water quality.

An improved flow regime for the river is not mandated until 2010 by the National Marine Fisheries Service under its 2002 Biological Opinion (BiOp) for Endangered Species Act (ESA) listed Klamath River coho salmon.  Klamath River chinook are not listed under the ESA. NMFS, however, is demanding immediate restrictions on fishing, even though no improvement in river flow will be forthcoming until 2010 under their plan.  Neither state, nor federal water authorities have yet to deal with the toxic water discharges from the lower four Klamath dams owned and operated by PacifiCorp.

6. The Klamath “floor” is an optimum production, not a fish survival, goal.

The Klamath “floor” of 35,000 natural-spawning fall-run chinook is a number determined by scientists required to gain the maximum production of salmon over time under normal conditions in the Klamath. It is not a minimum number needed for survival of the fish, which would be far less.  Indeed, in many of the years when the floor was not reached (e.g., 1992) the returning spawners of that year produced some of the largest runs ever, indicating conditions in the river are as important, if not more important, for future production then merely the total number of returning spawners.

7.  Klamath chinook salmon are not listed as threatened or endangered.

Klamath River fall-run chinook – on which much of the management of ocean fisheries is based, as well as fishing regulations for the Klamath and Trinity rivers - are neither threatened nor endangered, or otherwise listed under the state and/or federal Endangered Species Acts (ESA). Klamath River coho salmon are listed under the ESA and there is no fishing on those stocks.  Both chinook and coho, however, are affected by conditions in the river – the parasite and the other affects of low flows, warm water and poor water quality.  Fishing or no fishing, unless intervention is taken to deal with the parasite, and improvements made in the river (e.g., increased flows, removal of the lower four Klamath dams), Klamath chinook assuredly will end up listed under the ESA.  Fishing is simply the government’s red herring to divert attention from the significant adverse impacts facing salmon in the Klamath Basin.

8.  The total Klamath contribution to the ocean fishery is less than five percent

In 2005, between 40 to 50 fish salmon from other river systems were caught by the commercial fishing fleet for every one Klamath-origin salmon caught.  The commercial fishing fleet has worked hard to avoid the take of any Klamath fish which included restrictions in 2005 that caused the fleet to forego substantial fishing on extremely abundant Central Valley fall-chinook salmon (the returns to the Central Valley were about four times more than the escapement goal set for that system, with much of the run simply wasted). 

9.  Without viable fishing opportunity, the fisheries will be destroyed.

A severely restricted fishery or total closure will force most fishing enterprises out of business (e.g., fishermen, many fish processors, charter boat operations, fishing guides) and destroy the supporting infrastructure. Salmon fishermen, who would have enjoyed their best season since 1988’s record ocean season, cannot afford to take a year off from fishing, never mind two or three (the impact from the current parasite infestation). They will be forced to sell their boats or seek to enter already crowded fisheries for sablefish, albacore and Dungeness crab. The infrastructure in ports, as well as many charterboat operations, hit by the restrictions on groundfish, will likely go out of business. Within the coastal zone, once those businesses have left the fishery it will be difficult, if not impossible, to reestablish them meaning a permanent loss of fishing infrastructure including buying stations, ice houses, marinas and haul-out and repair facilities.  Coastal tourism will also be adversely affected since many come to the coast to see the fishing fleet, enjoy the locally-caught fish in restaurants and go fishing. 

10.  Without fisheries, who will fight for the fish?

The fisheries, whether they be commercial, recreational or tribal, provide an economic justification for maintaining salmon in abundant numbers, not merely at “aquarium level” populations.  The fisheries provide the economic justification for protecting watersheds, rivers, bays and estuaries.  And, commercial, sport and tribal salmon fishermen have been active and effective stewards for environmental protection.  Thus, maintaining a salmon fishery is needed not just for economic reasons, but for the environment, as well, and the maintenance of abundant numbers of salmon. 

 

Fact sheet courtesy of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations.