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Opinion

Salmon Closure Talk A Bit Early

Lots of talk in the news about the upcoming salmon season. The NYT has one of the better articles on the situation.

The Chinook salmon that swim upstream to spawn in the fall, the most robust run in the Sacramento River, have disappeared. The almost complete collapse of the richest and most dependable source of Chinook salmon south of Alaska left gloomy fisheries experts struggling for reliable explanations — and coming up dry.

Whatever the cause, there was widespread agreement among those attending a five-day meeting of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council here last week that the regional $150 million fishery, which usually opens for the four-month season on May 1, is almost certain to remain closed this year from northern Oregon to the Mexican border. A final decision on salmon fishing in the area is expected next month.

I think we are getting a little ahead of ourselves here. All of this closure talk is based on guesstimates. Even though these are experts predicting what will happen this summer, they have been wrong many times in the past. Many different factors come into play with salmon runs, some we don’t even know about. Much of what they are going on is the “Deadzone” off the Oregon Coast. And because Sacramento Salmon migrate off of Oregon, the run is expected to plummet this year. But there really is no proof the they all stayed in the Deadzone and died…and why would they? If there is no food to eat, why wouldn’t they move on to somewhere else?

The expected closure will be from Manzanita South to Mexico, so it probably won’t matter much in our neck of the woods. Except the fact that if it happens, the other runs will have major pressure on them and from here to Canada the Ocean will be very busy. Prices will also be higher then they have been….which is extremely high. I can remember back in the day (like 2002!) when salmon was under $3 a pound….and this was the absolute best salmon you will ever see . Now if you can find medium grade Chinook it’s $7 and up.

And last but not least, since I am in the salmon biz, I give you my top 5 list of Chinook Salmon (Fall Runs only)

1. Klamath River…….Great color and the oiliest fall run fish you can find.

2. Rouge River…….This run has gone downhill in quality the last few years, but still one of the best fall runs out there.

3. Alaskan Kings…..These are probably better when they are caught, but by the time we see them they are usually “pulpy”, but they have great color.

4. – Tie Quinault River….very large fish and sometimes they will pale out toward the tail, but taste very good.
4. – Tie Columbia River…These are good when caught at the mouth of the River, but once they are in the Columbia for a few days they go downhill in a hurry. In the taste Dept. they are much lower than the 4 above…..But they look better than Quinault and many of the Rouge River.

Also a quick note. Copper River fish suck! It’s all branding….and they have done a great job at it because the fish are really not that good, but everyones eyes light up when the hear the words “Copper River”.

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