It's a season in name only. On a handful of days this summer, commercial and casual anglers can chase salmon off the coast. But after two long years with no open-water season, this brief window is a welcome sign.
If fish biologists are right, salmon in big numbers may be returning this fall to the long-depleted Sacramento River system. The anticipated run means that a dwindling salmon industry, sustained by nearly $200 million disaster relief, will get a chance to work again. It may even buy a little peace – though not much, we bet – in the water wars, which have pitted fishermen and farmers in a dispute over crucial river flows.
The short season could mark an upswing for depleted salmon stocks. After several years of alarm-level fish counts, the prediction is for 245,000 fish in the Sacramento system. The proposed season – which actually began for sportfishing on April 3 – might yield fish catches of around 50,000 from here to Oregon.
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Photo by Orville Myers, Associated Press