Why Do Silvers Need to Be Thrown Back?

July 29, 2010

Question: While fishing yesterday, we boated very few “keeper” king salmon but caught and threw back several good sized silvers. The skipper said they are not endangered, just protected. The explanation I got was that the state does not want to pay hatcheries to raise them so that’s why we can’t keep them. The problem is, by the time you bring them up from 75 to 100 feet, de-net and unhook them, they are tired and almost dead … but we still have to throw them back. What a waste of resources. Do you have any information on that? DFG requires the same thing for certain species of rockcod — we have to throw them back even if they are dead. (Bob C.)

Answer: According to Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Senior Marine Biologist Melodie Palmer-Zwahlen of the Ocean Salmon Project, both California coastal coho (endangered) and northern California coho (threatened) are indeed listed under the Endangered Species Act and the retention of coho (marked or unmarked) in any California ocean fishery is specifically prohibited under the National Marine Fisheries Service’s recovery plans for these stocks. Although some of the coho currently being contacted in California waters may be from hatcheries in Oregon and Washington, our own stocks are so depressed that it’s not possible to allow a direct take at this time. We do have several hatcheries currently spawning coho as part of a captive broodstock program specifically designed to enhance California coho populations.

Sport anglers can help by fishing nearshore and using larger lures to reduce coho encounters. In addition, since coho can be identified by their white gums, coho should be shaken off the hooks while still over the water and not netted or brought onboard. If the fish is hooked deeply, the angler should simply cut the line.

I was looking for the specific prohibition in the final recovery plan just released and couldn't find it, but it's almost 2000 pages and I'm on my phone. Maybe one of you can find it?

http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/recovery/plans/cohosalmon_soncc.pdf