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http://www.times-standard.com/local/ci_3766567
 
Feds make salmon fishing rules final
 
The Times-Standard April 29, 2006
Federal fisheries managers have approved a measure to allow some ocean salmon fishing, though it will be slim indeed on the North Coast.

The National Marine Fisheries Service adopted the emergency rule drafted recently by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, which gives this area 20 days of fishing during the spring an another six in the fall. Anglers can keep two king salmon a day from May 15 through July 4 and Sept. 1 through 6. The minimum size is 24 inches.

The emergency rule was needed to dip below the floor of 35,000 wild spawning salmon set to protect fish stocks into the future. This year, only 25,000 were projected to return. By timing the fisheries in different zones up and down the coast to avoid Klamath fish that mix with fish from other rivers with stronger stocks, fish managers believe that that floor can be reset to 21,000 this year without harming the population in the Klamath.

There will be no commercial salmon fishing off Humboldt County. The nearest open zone is in the Fort Bragg area, where fishermen will be able to catch a total of 4,000 salmon from Sept. 1 to 15. They can keep 30 fish over 27 inches long per day.

The regulations can be found at http://www.nwr.noaa.gov.  (see below article)

The year is being considered a disaster by most on the North Coast, and legislators and public officials have been seeking federal relief for the closures. Closures and severe limits on ocean fishing are occurring all along the West Coast due to the weak Klamath River stocks.

”We are acutely aware of the impact this rule has on fisherman and coastal communities, but feel this is a necessary step to ensure the long-term health of the salmon fishery,” said NMFS southwest region director Rod McInnis “My staff has been working on an economic analysis to specifically quantify the impact on the fishing season.”

Salmon Fishery Regulations

http://www.nwr.noaa.gov/Salmon-Harvest-Hatcheries/Salmon-Fishery-Management/Salmon-Fishery-Regulations.cfm

Salmon Fishery Regulations

NOAA Fisheries Service establishes fishery management measures for the ocean salmon fisheries off Washington, Oregon and California. Specific fishery management measures vary by fishery and by area. The measures establish fishing areas, seasons, quotas, legal gear, recreational fishing days and catch limits, possession and landing restrictions, and minimum lengths for salmon taken in the U.S. exclusive economic zone (EEZ, 3–200 nautical miles) off Washington, Oregon and California. The management measures are intended to prevent over-fishing and to apportion the ocean harvest equitably among treaty Indian, non-treaty commercial, and recreational fisheries. The measures are also intended to allow a portion of the salmon runs to escape the ocean fisheries to provide for spawning escapement and to provide for inside fisheries (fisheries occurring in state internal waters).

Apr. 28, 2006, News Release (PDF 35KB)
2006 Salmon Management Measures (PDF 103KB) (note that the Federal Register notice has not yet published; this is the language submitted for the FRN)

 

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