Alarmed Feds Cancel Salmon Season

Shocking plunge in numbers a mystery
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 11, 2008 5:10 AM CDT
Alarmed Feds Cancel Salmon Season
A barcode attached to the jaw of this chinook salmon, shown in a 2006 file photo, indicates that it was included in a genetic study where salmon from particular rivers are caught in the ocean.    (AP Photo/Jeff Barnard, File)

In drastic action to stop the collapse of the West Coast salmon population, a federal fisheries council is banning salmon fishing off California and most of Oregon for the rest of the year, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. "This is a disaster," said the council chairman. The number of salmon spawning in California's Sacramento River system has plunged some 94% in six years.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has declared a state of emergency to seek federal funds for commercial fisherman. The ban is expected to suck $21 million out of the California economy alone. The reason for the alarming decline in salmon numbers remains a mystery, but some biologists believe global warming has changed the pattern of nutrient-rich ocean upwelling that sustain fish populations. (More California stories.)

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