2014 CA KMZ (OR/CA border south to Horse Mtn.) Salmon season

Thanks to our HASA buddies for representing and keeping us up to date.

from Humboldttuna.com>
Ben (Sumoco) and I are in Sacramento attending the PFMC meeting until Thursday.  During this meeting three recreational alternatives will be developed for each marine salmon zone within WA, OR and CA.  The same will be done for the commercial fishery within each state.  Yesterday we worked with both the CA and OR state recreational representatives and proposed three alternatives for the CA KMZ (OR/CA border south to Horse Mtn.).  Alternatives were also developed for the Ft Bragg, SF and Monterey zones.  As a HASA representative my focus is the CA KMZ and to a lesser extent the OR KMZ and Ft Bragg.  These adjacent zones directly effect the CA KMZ.

This year there are fewer Klamath as well as few Sacramento River fish available than the last two years, however there are less restrictive impacts on the Sacramento Winter Run Chinook than last year.  We are not directly impacted by Sac. Winter Run Chinook because we are north of Pt. Arena however their abundance significantly influences the seasons south of Pt Arena in the SF and Monterey zones.  I would consider this to be an "average" abundance for both the Klamath and the Sacramento Rivers.

With that background the following draft alternatives were submitted for modeling this morning. Please realize this is a process that will take the week to submit draft alternatives, model them, tweak them, model them and tweak again.  We are attempting to develop a range of three alternatives that comply with the minimum spawning escapement goals for each river.  These alternatives will go out for public comment with the final decision being made during the PFMC meeting in Vancouver, WA, April 4-10th.

Recreational CA KMZ

Alternative 1)  May 1st through September 7th, two chinook/day, 24" minimum size limit

Alternative 2)  May 17th through September 7th, two chinook/day, 24" minimum size limit

Alternative 3)  May 24th through September 1st, two chinook/day, 20" size limit

We will see the results of modeling in the morning and almost certainly the combination of rec and commercial season will exceed the allowable catch.  Also please don't think these alternatives are solid, rather consider them as bookends and we can modify the alternatives as long as we remain within the bookends.  For instance we could have a 20" size limit in Alternative 1 or 2 if there are sufficient fish.

We will keep you posted as the week progresses.

Thanks, Jimmy Y

Thanks for the update!