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| Fishermen feel strains of another tough salmon season By David F. Smydra Jr.--[ david@hmbreview.com ] Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, August 1, 2007 3:37 PM PDT No one said fishing was supposed to be easy. Even so, some years are easier than others. And this year hasn't been one of them. Paul Wade, a fisherman who was killed two and a half weeks ago while pursuing salmon off Point Reyes, is just one dramatic and tragic casualty in an industry that has taken a number of recent hits. While the U.S. Coast Guard continues its investigation into the events surrounding Wade's death, the episode underscores the dangers that face many commercial fishermen, particularly when a number of factors ranging from the environment to bureaucratic decisions seemingly work against them in consecutive fashion. "We did get a report ... with the salmon fisheries, stating that the weather has been worse this year than in past years," said Lt. Anya Hunter of the Coast Guard. "So it caused the price for salmon to go up. That, we think, was a driving factor for a number of fishermen to fish in inclement weather." This year's season included a one-month hiatus in June to ensure sufficient stocks for commercial activity, and last year's salmon season proved disappointing for most commercial fishermen. The complex bureaucratic machinations needed to manage the salmon stock have combined with punishing behavior in the market. As Hunter suggested, fishermen often find themselves in the Catch-22 of supply and demand economics: the more they catch, the lower the price; the less they catch, the higher the price. Neither equation seems to compute for many fishermen. The per-pound price of salmon had been as high as $7.50 in May before the mid-season hiatus. Jim Anderson, who fishes out of Pillar Point, said that the most recent wholesale figure he had heard since the season reopened was $5.25. "The price wasn't as high as it was last year at this time," Anderson said. "This is the second year in a row that we haven't had much of a season." Anderson said many of the fishermen at Pillar Point have not been seeing too much activity. "The guys aren't doing much the past two weeks," he said. Duncan MacLean, another Pillar Point fisherman, said that July has been somewhat foggy and windy, but nothing so severe it would interfere with fishing. "We have excellent, excellent ocean conditions," MacLean said. "The ocean conditions cannot be blamed for what's going on with the stock. It's the in-river habitat." MacLean pointed to environmental and bureaucratic decisions made in recent years regarding the Klamath and Sacramento rivers as the main culprits for straining the industry. Many agree and some are putting the blame at the doorstep of the White House. Tuesday the U.S. House of Representatives convened a hearing into the role Vice President Dick Cheney may have played in a 2002 diversion of water on the Klamath that killed about 70,000 salmon. Meanwhile, local fishermen are chasing scarce salmon into some dangerous corners of the Pacific. In Wade's case, fishermen say, the salmon happened to be running two weeks ago on the edge of a lane reserved for large commercial ships that often travel between 20 and 30 knots. Given the demands of the industry, everyone interviewed for this article could understand why Wade - and the many other commercial vessels who were nearby that day - attempted to fish the area. "It's a tough situation," said Anderson. "Maybe if the price was up, maybe those guys wouldn't have been trying to make a living in that particular place." |