Salmon season closure a blow to San Mateo County industry

And the official closure announcement for both commercial and recreational salmon fishing was promptly followed by an April 11 request from the Newsom administration that a federal fishery disaster be declared — again, for what would be the second time in a row. 

While last year’s federal disaster declaration resulted in $20.6 million in aid for California fishers, many already facing financially excruciating circumstances after several consecutive years of restricted salmon fishing and crabbing, individuals have yet to receive that money. 

“It’s unfortunately a lengthy process,” Kandice Morgenstern, a senior environmental scientist supervisor at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, said. “For example, we have not yet distributed funds originating from the 2023 disaster declaration. A spending plan is out for public review right now. While it’s a means for relief, it’s not immediate relief.” 

Tim Obert, a commercial fisher who sits on a number of fishing advisory boards, said it’s undeniable the viability of the industry is in question for those trying to make a living. 

“A year and a half for no value for the salmon industry. As we move forward, I hope we can get first, disaster relief, to get income back to the salmon fleet,” he said. “Next year is going to be make or break for commercial fishers.” 

But Obert is trying to stay optimistic regardless — and actually prefers a total closure over highly restrictive harvesting limits. 

“It was almost a slap in the face to the commercial industry anyways. There’s no viability — we can’t make a living taking 1% value,” he said. “There’s more chance of loss there than there is a gain. The department did the right thing by closing the season completely, so we aren’t scraping from the bottom of the barrel.” 

He’s hopeful that by sitting another season out, salmon stock will have time to properly rebuild and create a more sustainable industry for future years. A good portion of the industry is supportive of the decision with a similar goal in mind, Morgenstern said. 

The Department of Fish and Wildlife has tried to mitigate the disastrous impacts of recent drought years by trucking salmon and improving hatchery practices, Morgenstern said, but combating low water levels proved challenging. 

“The salmon life cycle is about three to five years. Salmon that were spawned in 2019 to 2021 are going to make up the bulk of ocean salmon fishery in 2022, 23, 24,” she said. “We’re seeing the effects of those bad drought years. Salmon that returned to spawn then didn’t have a lot of success, a lot of mortality. A lot of mortality among juveniles.” 

Obert labeled the root causes of low salmon stock as attributable to the state’s water management practices, particularly around the Sacramento River and Central Valley. 

“Water management had a huge factor in salmon stocks themselves,” he said. “Sacramento flows aren’t enough to bring fish back. Fish need to return there for mitigation. Making and raising hatchery fish — water is a huge, crucial point in making these stocks rebuilt.” 

In San Mateo County, Harbor District Manager Jim Pruett said he was hoping for a partially-open season because of the detrimental economic impact of a full shutdown. Pruett said he couldn’t estimate how much this year’s closure will cost Half Moon Bay, but the 2023 shutdown cost California around $45 million, according to the state — the fishing industry says higher, CalMatters reported.

“This is going to impact us on several fronts. One, people will not be coming out to fish, [the] ramp will not be very busy. People will not be coming down to buy salmon off boat, or from fish buyers. Salmon won’t exist,” he said. “It’s a significant hit to fishermen. Salmon provides a large portion of annual salary, [and the] district loses out on landing fees.” 

Half Moon Bay fisher Barry Day of the Helen Ruth expressed frustration with the situation at large, something he deemed complex and without adequate resolution from the state’s fishery management model.  

“We’ve got a model we’ve got to base everything off … that model needs a lot of work. It’s not in full conjunction with what’s happening out there,” he said. “They can’t instantly come up with a solution. It’s a bit of a hard one. For the way things are, not having a season, it’s going to hurt us big time.” 

While the closure has an obvious and drastic negative economic impact on fishers, Day noted that they aren’t the only ones unhappy to see another year without fresh California salmon. 

“I’ve got a lot of clients, and they’re going to be without,” he said. 

The fishing industry’s economic model is meant to bring a resource to the public in a way where both fishers and sellers can profit, Obert said. Even if some restricted salmon fishing was permitted, that model is, at present, failing. 

“What happens is if there’s not enough fish to catch, there’s not enough fish to go to market,” he said. “Realistically, we’ve got huge infrastructure issues in making that resource available to the public.”