Well this is bad news for the salmon stocks of the lower 48, and thier fishermen will be hit very hard, sadly I have the feeling after this season many will not return to harvesting those salmon.
Consumers will likely pay more in the stores and restaraunts, fishers elsewhere will likely see some value added to thier product but we generally would prefer it doesnt come at the expense of someone else's pain.

This is especially worrisome to me and indicitive that large scale industrialization especially mining and salmon dont mix.

Few questions for anyone who cares to respond...
Do you eat salmon?
Where do you get it?
What form is it in? i.e. canned, fresh, frozen, smoked?
How much do you pay for it?

The following article is longer and I cut about half of it off in the name of space, you can continue to read it at the link.
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- The stunning collapse of one of the West Coast's biggest wild salmon runs has prompted even cash-strapped fishermen to call for an unprecedented shutdown of salmon fishing off the coasts of California and Oregon.

Wildlife official John Rueth carries a salmon being moved to a tank in Shasta Lake, California, last month.

"There's likely no fish, so what are you going to be fishing for?" asked Duncan MacLean, a fisherman from Half Moon Bay. "I have no problem sitting out to rebuild this resource if that's what's necessary."

The Pacific Fishery Management Council meets in Seattle this week and will likely vote to impose the most severe restrictions ever on West Coast salmon fishing to protect California's dwindling chinook stocks.

The Sacramento River chinook run is usually one of the most productive on the Pacific Coast, providing the bulk of the salmon caught by sport and commercial trollers off California and Oregon.

But only about 90,000 adult chinook returned to the Central Valley last fall -- the second lowest number on record and well below the number needed to maintain a healthy fishery. That number is projected to fall to a record low of 58,000 this year. By contrast, 775,000 adults were counted in the Sacramento River and its tributaries as recently as 2002.

"This stock got off-the-charts bad very suddenly," said Donald McIsaac, the council's executive director. "It's a very, very severe situation."

The council, which regulates Pacific Coast fisheries, will choose between three management options: a total ban on salmon fishing off the coast of California and Oregon; extremely limited fishing in select areas; or catch-and-release fishing for scientific research.

The council also is expected to set strict limits on salmon fishing off the coast of Washington to protect that state's declining chinook and coho stocks.

The council's final decision is expected Thursday. The National Marine Fisheries Service will then decide whether to implement the regulations by May 1.


Salmon disappearance could bring fishing ban - CNN.com

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

Gee, what a surprise! The abuse that humanity puts the environment through is starting to pay off.

It's like the plague of jellyfish in Japan - all a result of overfishing.


Oh, and I eat very little salmon. I will occasionally have a couple pieces if I go to the sushi bar, but that's about it.

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When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

We're currently paying $7/lb for wild salmon in season, $5/lb for fresh farmed salmon and normally eat it every other week. It is our favorite fish meal.

I follow salmon runs in Oregon and this is a disastrous year. Our problem is, as with most states, industrialization and logging. Two of our main rivers in Southern Oregon have had dams slated for removal since 1999 and current administration has blocked removal at the bequest of California big ag farming interests having irrigation water rights from those dams. Understand they aren't using that water, they want the rights preserved for potential future use. The endless federal hearings roadblock is very effective.

It actually gets deeper than that with us, federal forest management techniques creating even larger problems by their eagerness to support special interest desires to harvest the remaining old growth, silting up the feeder streams where salmon actually still spawn. Combined with opening up wilderness areas to road traffic for mining purposes, this administration has been an absolute nightmare in the struggle to retain forests, natural wildlife and fisheries for future generations.

Poor Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull)

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In the beginning of a change, the patriot is a scarce man, and brave, and hated and scorned. When his cause succeeds, the timid join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot. ~Mark Twain, Notebook, 1935

He's a fish farmer (Atlantic Salmon) and not affected by US wild stocks. If anything the shortage will increase demand for his farm fish, so not so poor Ian Anderson.

I am not sure this is a result of overfishing as is the case in many other areas. The downfall of the lower 48 runs are the industrialization of the major salmon rivers and the dams that come as a result. Also ocean and general water conditions are the most likely factor.

I will point out that this is really only a small number of salmon in the overall scope of things on a large scale. Several different species and fisheries in Alaska bear the sustainable label. Where the quota harvested is low enough to maintain historic levels in the overall numbers of fish and is flexible to allow for small variations in habitat conditions.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

Interesting post Americano, thanks for your insight. A few questions, do you know which species of salmon you are buying for those prices? And do you notice any difference in the taste, and overall quality between farmed versus wild salmon?

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

ah yes, its bushs fault, was wondering when we would get to the punchline.

from what I understand harvesting old growth, or not is a double edge sword regards fire threats etc.....

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No individual can plan his own existence in their view.

So the state planners must arrogate to themselves the right to manipulate any sector of the economic system if the good of “society” or the “general welfare” is paramount.

Ipso- if the rights of the individual get in the way, the rights of the individual must be sublimated.

The Road to Serfdom
FA Hayek (interpretation)

I stand corrected.

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When they come a wull staun ma groon
Staun ma groon al nae be afraid
Thoughts awe hame tak awa ma fear
Sweat an bluid hide ma veil awe tears

While I am not against the timber industry per say, Where the hell did Americano ever mention Bush, or any politician or political party by name?

The problem with the logging industry operating in the pacific NW is that they use the clear cutting method which while maximizing profits, also maximizes unintended consequenses.

Selective harvesting is really the best method and ultimately provides for a superior product.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

Chinook and Coho. Huge difference in texture and taste as farmed fish have almost twice the fat content of wild fish. Wild is meant for the bbq without exception while the farm product responds best to baking and addition of light, seasoned white sauces.

No worries, you would certainly be correct in probably %75 of the other places in the world with your notion. Salmon are a unique species when compared to most other ocean harvested fish. Due to thier life cycle and transitioning from fresh H2O to salt and then back to make the spawning trip they are more fragile to water conditions.

There are methods which would make it quite easy to overharvest salmon, but those practices are long gone. Where I live, historically there was a great salmon run in the Nunavangaluk River and Lake system. A Russian company operated a packing company and the mouth of the river. They basically trapped and caught every single salmon that entered the bottle neck of the river and wiped out an entire river full of fish for several years effectively making that distinct run of salmon distinct. That was nearly 150 years ago and has never returned to a remotely viable number.

Again those practices are long gone and you would be hard pressed to find a fisher of any sort who wants to overfish thier target species to the point of harming its short and long term populations.

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Abstinence Education at its finest:

see above.


and-
I fully appreciate the value of administering environments that could cause a drop off like this or is unnecessarily destructive.

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No individual can plan his own existence in their view.

So the state planners must arrogate to themselves the right to manipulate any sector of the economic system if the good of “society” or the “general welfare” is paramount.

Ipso- if the rights of the individual get in the way, the rights of the individual must be sublimated.

The Road to Serfdom
FA Hayek (interpretation)

Even the so-called selective harvesting of old growth is a disaster unless only helicopters are employed. There's no way to be tidy putting roads in with D8s, skidders everywhere and the necessity of constantly changing yards for transport. But anything beats clear cutting, that completely destroys fish spawning habitat.

I said administration, not Bush per se, the local (state) influence on federal managers instructed to accommodate industry to reduce federal revenue sharing requirements. Bush probably wouldn't know old growth from sagebrush.

Any person familiar with forestry can tell you fires are mother nature's method of replenishing forests. The old growth actually thrives when smaller trees and the underbrush are burned off, as do wildlife and fisheries. Native Americans formerly used it as a management technique before the words were ever employed.

The only problem with most forest fires are their danger to development; houses, businesses, etc. That's why so much federal money is devoted to clearing underbrush in national forests, which doesn't accomplish the same results but pacifies the mostly ignorant public.