At some point one has to ask if maintaining the size of the fishery fleet in that particular area, is tenable, given the variations in local spawning capability and the difficulty in determining where spawning occurs.
No U.S. aid for fishermen
But Congress does call for a recovery for Klamath coho salmon.
By David Whitney - Bee Washington Bureau
Published 12:00 am PST Friday, December 15, 2006
Congress adjourned this month without sending any disaster assistance to commercial fishermen idled by the nearly total closure of the salmon season off the California and Oregon coasts.
But in what may be a precedent, it ordered federal fishery managers to write a plan for the recovery of the endangered coho salmon runs in the Klamath River, the wellspring of problems that caused the fishery closures.
The salmon fishery was severely reduced this spring because of forecasts that salmon would be returning to spawn in the Klamath in numbers below what is needed for healthy propagation.
Because it's impossible for fishermen to distinguish between a Klamath River salmon and fish from other rivers, the shortened commercial season meant closures from Morro Bay along the central California coast to the Columbia River.
The closures idled not only the salmon fleets but the fuel dealers, ice providers and other enterprises that serve the commercial boats.
