The Fishing Report: Dead or dying

I recently returned from my annual migration up to the Lower Klamath River.  Much like the salmon themselves I have been returning to the river year after year despite the gauntlet of obstacles placed in my way. Whether it was the downturn in the economy or family pressures to stay home, I always managed at least a few days on the river every September.
This last trip was very disturbing. I was going to use the word disappointing but that would mean I would have had higher expectations. No, I knew what has been happening to the salmon for years now. Tribal commercial fishing continues down at the mouth of the river and unchecked subsistence fishing continues up river. These two activities have a huge impact on the recreational fishing in the river despite all the conversation the contrary. But this year, because of the configuration of the mouth and relaxed management of the sportsman, the fish aren’t able to make it upstream.
I fished upstream for two solid days. My three fellow anglers and I caught only one salmon.  If we totaled up the angler hours it would have amounted to two days. The last day on the river we saw no salmon roll. Not one! This is so unusual that in the last 25 years I can’t ever remember not seeing one salmon roll. This is even more disturbing when you figure that this is the middle of September when thousands of fish ought to be in the river.
I spoke to a lot of people while I was there and everybody had their own take on what was going on. Excuses like the water was too warm, the mouth won’t allow the fish in, or there is too much moss in the river. One thing that struck me as obvious was the impact of man on the mouth of the river. Hundreds of people are down there taking thousands of fish. How can that be tolerated?
If I had a magic wand and were to change one thing it would be the commercial netting and right along with it, the “sport fishing” at the mouth.  There are so many obvious reasons why this practice should be stopped but let’s just start with the money, since unfortunately that is what drives everything. The Indians have been granted this unique right to commercial fish the mouth of the river. This year they are going to be allotted 75,000 fish and many more than that will actually get caught. If they get a dollar per pound and the average weight is 15 pounds then the fishery is worth just over 1 million dollars a year. Maybe they get two bucks but can you imagine what the economic impact of those 75,000 fish would be worth if they were allowed to swim up river and be caught fairly by sportsmen? The town of Klamath would be the Mecca of arguably the world’s best salmon fishing. It would become a boomtown overnight. Everyone would prosper.
But really the reason to end the commercial fishing is to save the river and the salmon. The greed of the commercial fishery has spread to the sportsmen and when I see children down at the mouth being taught to “line” I just can’t hold much hope for the future of salmon in the Klamath River. I am not sure if the Klamath is dying or dead already. It’s hard to know and would certainly depend on your definition, but one thing is certain – it is in a lot of trouble. Now maybe the fish will come into the river, the mouth will open up, the clouds will rain lots of water, and the nets will be out and there will be lots of fish upstream, but as of this writing things look pretty bleak.
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