Fishermen seeing bountiful salmon season in San Mateo County

“This year is something guys say they haven’t seen in 15 to 20 years. It’s been a pretty good season so far,” Edson said.

He started fishing in Bodega Bay this season and has been near Half Moon Bay and the Farallon Islands. This year, fishermen pull in anywhere from a couple of hundred pounds to a couple of thousand pounds a day. He noted getting just a couple of hundred pounds would be considered a great catch in the last few years.

“It’s been going very well. There is a lot of fish,” Edson said.

He finished fishing and offloading on Wednesday and recently fished 11 days. He plans to go out July 17 through 22, the next allotted time. Edson believes the increase in supply will make its way to chain supermarkets and other stores soon if it hasn’t already. The rise in volume led to salmon being around $5 a pound for him to sell when he wanted to see a $7 to $8 a pound price. Edson noted operational expenses have gone up for diesel fuel and tackle, but prices offered to fishermen have not. He said while the volume of supply is good, the price was higher last year due to lack of volume.

Don Marshall, who fishes out of Half Moon Bay, said the salmon season had been a lot better than expected, and he had seen more fish than in the last 10 to 15 years. He recently caught 180 salmon totaling around 2,000 pounds, a daily catch worth $13,000 at $6 a pound pricing.

“I had the best day I have ever had,” Marshall said.

He spent May fishing around Bodega Bay, and he observed Point Arena down to Bodega Bay has massive bodies of salmon moving north and south following the large swells of anchovies. These bodies are often only 1 to 3 miles, but he saw 10 to 15 miles bodies of dense and heavy fish swimming together. Marshall is seeing more salmon than he has seen in his life, including as a child. He hopes the bountiful season continues and helps financially with the upcoming crab season and with boat repairs.

“I think I have done this long enough to be cautiously optimistic. Nobody expected this many fish, and many fishermen were preparing for a grim summer and other options,” Marshall said.

Fishermen have faced a shortened commercial salmon season off the California coast due to an estimated low Chinook salmon stock derived from statistical modeling. The season typically starts on May 1 and runs until September, but this year had intermittent stops and starts. The San Francisco area from Point Arena in Sonoma County to the Pigeon Point Lighthouse in San Mateo County is open intermittently from mid-June through mid-August and all of September. The Monterey area from Pigeon Point to the Mexico border is open from May to mid-August.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council made the season restrictions recommendation in April following discussions with fishermen. It makes recommendations for the 2021 ocean salmon season timeline and manages fisheries for most salmon and fish species on the West Coast.

Edson said most fishermen are disappointed the season was shortened, with lots of intermittent stops and starts. He noted that while statistical modeling determined the length of the season, the on-the-water experience shows more fish than expected, which he wants to be factored into consideration for season length.

“They should take into account what we are seeing,” Edson said.

curtis@smdailyjournal.com

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