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| A 'banner year' midway through salmon season By MATT KAPKO Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, July 21, 2004 2:58 PM PDT Half Moon Bay Review It's unlikely many people expected such a great salmon season when it opened to sport fishermen three months ago, but wild salmon are being caught at a record pace this year. Even more surprising is that some boats have caught salmon just outside the jetty in Pillar Point Harbor. Usually boats have to travel 30 miles out to catch salmon, Harbormaster Dan Temko said. "It's been a banner year for us so far," Deputy Harbormaster Cary Smith added. "If anyone ever wants to consider taking up salmon fishing, it's this year, they better get out there and do it now, because it's hard to beat this," Lt. Brian Arnold of the California Department of Fish and Game said. Arnold is the enforcement supervisor for San Mateo County. He said the high number of salmon is attributable to many organizations working cooperatively in sync to improve watersheds. He said his agency has also been successful at keeping commercial fisheries in check, which helps ensure adequate numbers of fish. "It's a combination of different events," he said. "We've got a lot of good habitat in the spawning areas." John Caliguire and Jim Bailey reaped the benefits of these ideal situations, bringing in four salmon last Friday at Pillar Point Harbor. Caliguire and Bailey traveled here from Auburn to spend four days fishing, and they couldn't be happier. They both work for the Placer County Sheriff's Department. Phil Bruno, owner of Exclusive Fresh, a wholesale fish distributor, said his costs have dropped significantly since the salmon have been getting caught at a higher pace. At the beginning of the season, he was buying salmon for $4 a pound. Now he's buying at $2 a pound on anything below 11 pounds, and $2.40 for anything above that threshold. Bruno works on a margin, which he tries to get about 20-to-22 percent, and although he wasn't making that margin at $4 a pound, he is now. "I've been here since 1990 on the central coast of California. This is probably the best year I can remember since at least 1992 or so," Arnold said. "The farming community is taking more notice of what gets dumped into the creeks and we're allocating more water to fisheries resources," he added. "It's been an outstanding salmon season this year. I think we're more aware. It's wonderful to see this." |