In The Wake of California Salmon Season Closure Governor Schwarzenegger Pledges Restoration Funds and Courts Weigh In

[courtesy of California Progress Report]

By Traci Sheehan
Executive Director
Planning and Conservation League

Last Thursday, the Pacific Coast Fisheries Management Council voted to cancel the Chinook salmon fishing season off the coast of California and Oregon. As we reported earlier this month, a full-closure of the recreational and commercial salmon season has never occurred since the birth of the West Coast fishing industry.

On Sunday, the Sacramento Bee editorial board reminded its readers of the economic impacts this decision will have coast-wide.

Yesterday, the California Department of Fish and Game solidified the closure decision by voting to bar all ocean salmon fishing in state waters, which extend out three miles from shore.

Just hours after the Pacific Coast Fisheries Management Council announcement, Governor Schwarzenegger declared a state of emergency and signed SB 562 by Senator Pat Wiggins, appropriating approximately $5.3 million of the $45 million in Proposition 84 funds to begin coastal salmon and steelhead fishery restoration projects.

Following on the heels of these actions, this afternoon the federal District Court in Fresno ruled that the federal biological opinion, which has governed the operations of the two large water projects upstream and within the Delta, has failed to adequately protect listed salmon and steelhead. This landmark ruling may mean even more restrictions on water pumping for the Delta in order to prevent the extinction of California's salmon.

These drastic actions demonstrate the need for solutions to meet water needs that will allow California to protect the environment, accommodate growth and support the economy (including a fishing industry). The Legislature is proposing a package of bills that help provide such solutions, including AB 2153 (Krekorian/Hancock), AB 2175 (Laird/Feuer), AB 2501 (Wolk), SB 1XX (Perata), and AB 2882 (Wolk).

Traci Sheehan is the Executive Director of the Planning and Conservation League, a statewide, nonprofit lobbying organization. For more than thirty years, PCL has fought to develop a body of environmental laws in California that is the best in the United States. PCL staff review virtually every environmental bill that comes before the California Legislature each year. It has testified in support or opposition of thousands of bills to strengthen California's environmental laws and fight off rollbacks of environmental protections.