Fishing regulators decided to likely close this year’s salmon fishing season for all of California, and on Friday, fishermen and others in the industry gathered at San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf to explain just how damaging that will be.
“Without salmon, we are in real trouble,” said commercial fisherwoman Sarah Bates.
It’s only the second time in history that regulators have moved to close an entire salmon fishing season due to a low number of fish.
“What this pier is all about is crab and salmon,” said Professor Joe Conte.
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Those whose livelihoods depend on king salmon gathered to put faces to the stories of an industry in trouble.
“While there are other fish in the sea of course, nothing really does compare to salmon,” said a fisherman.
The loss of the salmon season deals a more-than $1 billion blow to the industry.
Conte said it extends well beyond those who do the actual fishing.
“The marine stores over here, everybody who works on these boats, the gas dock, all our employees, the money they spend with their paychecks,” he said. “It trickles down to everyone.”
It’s restaurants like the iconic Scoma’s Restaurant that depend on salmon for their seafood-loving customers.
“It really hurts us a lot when we lose something as desirable as salmon,” said Tom Creedon, owner of Scoma’s Restaurant.
Bates remembers 2009, the last time the season was closed.
“During those two years the fleet lost a lot of participants, we had a lot of boats that were not maintained and they were no longer seaworthy and they are gone,” she said.
The state blames the decline in the fish on the drought. But those at Fisherman’s Wharf Thursday said the state also needs to allocate more water to its rivers.
“It doesn’t matter how many we harvest, if they are choked in the river, the species is going to decline,” said Bates.
