'For Salmons Sake'

Santa Rosa Press DemocratThe smoke and the smell of charcoal wafted through the air Saturday as hundreds of salmon steaks sizzled on giant grills at Fort Bragg's Noyo Harbor for the 35th annual salmon barbecue. It appeared to be a typical Fourth of July barbecue, but just below the surface lurked a more serious tone. The irony of so much grilled salmon and so little opportunity for commercial fishermen to catch them was lost on few of those from the local fishing community. "It does bother me not to be able to make a living," said Jerry Wall, who fishes commercially part time. But that shouldn't detract from the barbecue, a fund-raiser that contributes about $40,000 a year to salmon restoration, he said. It was fitting that North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, just back from a trip to Washington to seek financial relief for fishermen, was among the salmon chefs clad in rubber gloves and long aprons. He has been trying to get the Bush administration to declare the fishing season a disaster so fishermen will be eligible for federal aid. But the administration has been reluctant to declare an emergency because it would mean accepting blame, Thompson said. This year's fishing season is particularly meager, and it's the administration's fault, he said. Severe restrictions on salmon fishing this year are largely the result of a mass 2002 salmon die-off in the Klamath River, caused by a political decision favoring farmers over fish when divvying up water, Thompson said. About 80,000 spawning salmon died that year from poor water conditions caused by low water flows, he said. Fishermen asked for $81 million in aid this year, but only $2 million was approved. "I think it's nothing," said Wayne Scott, a part-time commercial fisherman who was sporting a red, white and blue mustache Saturday. He and others also are skeptical that any more relief money will come. Dan Platt, who supplements his commercial income with construction, diving and salvage work, noted that people on the Gulf Coast are still waiting for their relief money. "It's a disaster," he said of the fishing season. Commercial fishermen are limited to 15 days off the Mendocino Coast in September this year. Most of the fish served Saturday was caught locally, an improvement over the past two years when lackluster fishing seasons forced organizers to buy nearly all the fish from other areas. But that was only because a derby was organized for sports fishermen, who are allowed to fish. In the early years of the barbecue, commercial fishermen donated all the fish for the barbecue. That gradually changed, beginning about 1975 as regulators increasingly clamped down on fishing seasons. For the past several years, almost none of the salmon for the barbecue have been caught locally, said Alice Ivec, a former barbecue coordinator. This year, had it not been for the derby, the salmon would have been brought in from Alaska, an expensive proposition that could have halted the three-decades-old barbecue tradition, she said. Many commercial fishermen believe the restrictions this year are unfair and they question the need for the clampdown. "There's salmon out there," Wall said.