{"id":158511,"date":"2023-04-07T17:34:10","date_gmt":"2023-04-08T00:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=158511"},"modified":"2023-04-07T17:34:10","modified_gmt":"2023-04-08T00:34:10","slug":"newsom-administration-requests-federal-fishery-disaster-ahead-of-salmon-season-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/?p=158511","title":{"rendered":"Newsom Administration Requests Federal Fishery Disaster Ahead of Salmon Season Closure"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Sacramento, CA&#8230;Governor Gavin Newsom and Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis announced a request for a Federal Fishery Disaster Declaration to support the salmon fishing industry as it faces a closure for the 2023 salmon season.\u00a0This action follows projections that indicate California\u2019s Chinook salmon abundance is at historic lows.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CaGov-seal.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"218\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-97806\" srcset=\"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CaGov-seal.jpg 225w, https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CaGov-seal-30x30.jpg 30w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Recognizing the importance of salmon to California\u2019s commercial fisheries, Acting Governor Eleni Kounalakis, on behalf of Governor Newsom,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mclist.us7.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=afffa58af0d1d42fee9a20e55&amp;id=0d9ab5bfa8&amp;e=0b26ba1b5c\">submitted the request<\/a>\u00a0to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo immediately after the Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended a full closure of California\u2019s commercial and recreational ocean salmon season \u2013 a recommendation the National Marine Fisheries Service is expected to implement next month.<\/p>\n<p>If approved, the Federal Fishery Disaster Declaration would begin the process of providing needed relief to fishing communities financially impacted by a\u00a0closure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCountless families, coastal communities and tribal nations depend on salmon fishing \u2013 it\u2019s more than an industry, it\u2019s a way of life. That\u2019s why we\u2019re requesting expedited relief from the federal government,\u201d\u00a0<strong>said Governor Newsom.\u00a0<\/strong>\u201cWe\u2019re committed to working with the Biden Administration and Congress to ensure California\u2019s fisheries aren\u2019t left behind.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo California\u2019s salmon fishing communities, we\u2019re working to get you expedited relief,\u201d said\u00a0<strong>Lieutenant Governor Kounalakis.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cThe Federal Fishery Disaster Declaration we\u2019re requesting today is vital to supporting our coastal regions, and we look forward to getting families the help they need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>HOW WE GOT HERE:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Prolonged drought, severe wildfires, and associated impacts<\/strong>\u00a0to spawning and rearing habitat, harmful algal blooms, and ocean forage shifts have combined to result in some of the lowest stock abundance forecasts on record for Sacramento River Fall Chinook and Klamath River Fall Chinook.\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"2\">In large part, the low returns and abundance forecasts are due to difficult environmental factors faced by these salmon on their initial journey out to the ocean three years ago.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>The low ocean abundance forecasts, coupled with low 2022 returns,<\/strong>\u00a0led the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) to recommend full closure of California\u2019s commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Commercial fishing in southern Oregon<\/strong>\u00a0is also projected to face closures through the end of 2023.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>PREVIOUS ACTIONS:<\/strong>\u00a0The Newsom Administration has made unprecedented investments in recent years to revitalize salmon populations and support the communities that rely on salmon fishing.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW)\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/mclist.us7.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=afffa58af0d1d42fee9a20e55&amp;id=c675b78fda&amp;e=0b26ba1b5c\">announced $22.5 million<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0for 19 projects last month to support the restoration of critical habitat for salmon, climate resiliency, wildlife corridors and wetlands restoration. The funding is part of a new $200 million effort to support critical restoration statewide. The projects announced last month include:\n<ul>\n<li aria-level=\"2\"><strong>Protecting Salmon:\u00a0<\/strong>California awarded more than $8.2 million to eight projects in watersheds throughout the state to address drought impacts for salmon in rivers and streams important to their lifecycle. The largest project awarded will be led by the Yurok Tribe within the Oregon Gulch section of the Upper Trinity River where remnants of hydraulic mining have narrowed the river and lead to a loss of salmon rearing habitat. This project will reestablish the natural flow of the river as well as a functioning floodplain to greatly improve habitat for salmon across various life stages.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"2\"><strong>Addressing Climate Impacts:\u00a0<\/strong>Approximately $6.6 million was awarded to seven new projects to address urgent degrading water and habitat conditions due to climate change impacts. These projects include a focus on winter-run Chinook, improving the diversity of hatchery winter-run, as well as juvenile salmon collection system evaluation for re-introducing this species in the McCloud River above the Shasta Dam.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"2\"><strong>Wildlife Corridor \u2013 Fish Passage:\u00a0<\/strong>Wildlife corridors are essential to providing fish and wildlife room to roam, or in this case, swim. California awarded more than $6.5 million to three fish passage projects that will modify bridges and remove other barriers to fish passage in northern and central California.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>Last summer, working with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe\u00a0<\/strong>and federal partners, the<a href=\"https:\/\/mclist.us7.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=afffa58af0d1d42fee9a20e55&amp;id=e1237752f8&amp;e=0b26ba1b5c\">\u00a0California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) returned approximately 20,000 fertilized endangered winter-run Chinook<\/a>\u00a0salmon eggs to the McCloud River upstream of Shasta Reservoir for the first time since the construction of the Shasta Dam in the 1940s.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>The largest river restoration project in American history\u00a0<\/strong>begins this year to<a href=\"https:\/\/mclist.us7.list-manage.com\/track\/click?u=afffa58af0d1d42fee9a20e55&amp;id=413ddfc5b1&amp;e=0b26ba1b5c\">\u00a0remove of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River<\/a>. A project 20 years in the making to restore the river for and with Native American Tribes, it received final approval in December 2022 and will open up over 300 miles of historical habitat to salmon and steelhead that has been blocked by the dams for almost 100 years.<\/li>\n<li aria-level=\"1\"><strong>More than $84 million was invested in the last several years<\/strong>\u00a0to modernize hatcheries by replacing egg incubators and sorting machines, installing automated fish counters and water treatment systems, replacing aging vehicles in fish planting fleets and modernizing hauling trucks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sacramento, CA&#8230;Governor Gavin Newsom and Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis announced a request for a Federal Fishery Disaster Declaration to support the salmon fishing industry as it faces a closure for the 2023 salmon season.\u00a0This action follows projections that indicate California\u2019s Chinook salmon abundance is at historic lows. Recognizing the importance of salmon to California\u2019s commercial [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_cbd_carousel_blocks":"[]","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,20,5,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-featured","category-government","category-news","last_archivepost"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/CaGov-seal.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=158511"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158511\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":158512,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158511\/revisions\/158512"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/97806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=158511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=158511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.thepinetree.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=158511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}