In this story from today’s Bee we learn that the salmon season begins today, but will be curtailed.
This is of concern as, a related post today indicates, a large part of the world’s salmon is farm raised and has been found to be more polluted with chemicals that wild salmon, making the protection of the wild salmon an important human health issue in addition to the environmental issue of protecting an ancient and important part of the natural aquatic world.
Here is an excerpt.
Shorter salmon season begins
By Matt Weiser -- Bee Staff Writer Published 2:15 am PDT Monday, May 1, 2006
Commercial salmon fishermen in California are going to work today, marking a bittersweet end to months of brinkmanship between the fishing industry and federal officials.
May 1 marks the traditional opening of commercial salmon season on the Pacific Coast, a $150 million industry. But the National Marine Fisheries Service earlier this year proposed closing the season, along 700 miles of Oregon and California coast, to protect dwindling Klamath River chinook salmon.
On Friday, however, the service approved a severely curtailed season that starts today. In doing so, it adopted a proposal by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council from its April meeting in Sacramento.
All parties hope the limited season allows the industry to survive while Klamath River chinook recover from decades of water diversions and poor water quality.
But it will be a difficult year for fishermen: The season represents only about 40 percent of the usual commercial salmon harvest.
"I'm glad they approved it, but right now, we're not very happy," said Larry Miyamura, a salmon fisherman who lives in Sacramento. "It's really going to be tough on some of us."
The reduced season helps ensure more Klamath fish return to spawn this fall. But it also reduces access to salmon species that are abundant, including Sacramento River chinook.
"We are acutely aware of the impact this rule has on fishermen and coastal communities but feel this is a necessary step to ensure the long-term health of the salmon fishery," Rod McInnis, fisheries service regional director, said in a statement.
