Sport fishing groups oppose the proposal for a variety of reasons, including legal concerns, adverse impacts to the sport fishing industry and impacts upon wild fall run chinooks and endangered salmon stocks. The commercial salmon fishery that once flourished in the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary was closed by the State Legislature in the 1950s, due to a steady decline in salmon populations over decades.

The commercial fishing proposals would allow up to 10 vessels inside San Francisco Bay to fish for fall chinook salmon with conventional hook and line gear in an area currently closed to the use of that gear.

The Commission first heard the proposals at its May 2001 meeting, but because of widespread opposition by United Anglers of California, the Norcal River Guides and Sportsmens' Association and other groups, asked the DFG to intervene and come up with a revised plan.

"Efforts in that direction have not worked," said Robert C. Hight, Director of the Department of Fish and Game, "so we are recommending that the Commission put the proposal on hold to give us time to hold additional meetings and to evaluate other approaches for harvesting the abundant fall runs. The challenge is particularly difficult because of the depressed status of chinook stocks that co-mingle in the ocean with the abundant Sacramento River fall salmon."

Hight said that the DFG would report back on their progress next spring.

"I'm glad that the DFG finally came to their senses," said Bob Strickland, president of United Anglers. "We are afraid that once the commercials get this fishery opened in the bay, they will try to open other fisheries. If there are excess fish, we believe that they should be taken by recreational anglers because the value of fish per pound is many times more than it would be commercially."

Ironically, the DFG said it could afford observers aboard the boats to monitor any bycatch at a time when the Department has had an extremely tough time trying to hire enough qualified wardens to enforce the law, according to Strickland.

Mike Bogue, president of the Norcal River Guides and Sportsmen's Association, was pleased that the DFG recommended against voting on the proposal in the Commission's August meeting, but was dismayed that they left the option open for starting the fishery next year.

"The commercial fishery takes 70 percent of the salmon and that's plenty," stated Bogue. "Some years there are excess salmon and some years not. I see no benefit whatsoever for having commercials fish for salmon in the bay again."

Bogue emphasized that salmon caught on the recreational fishery on the Sacramento River are much more valuable to the state's economy than those taken commercially. The worth of sport caught salmon on the Sacramento is $545 to $1100 per fish, according to a State Economic Impact Report conducted by Madalene M. Ranson, economist for the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service. By contrast, the value of commercially caught salmon is only $24 to $46 per fish.

The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance also opposes the proposal. The group challenges the legality of reopening commercial fishing in the bay.

"The commercial salmon fishery that once existed in the San Francisco Bay-Delta estuary was closed by statute in the 1950's," said John Beuttler, consultant for the organization in a letter to the Fish and Game Commission. "We do not believe the Legislature intended Section 8606 to provide the authority of the Commission to override this legislative mandate."

Beuttler noted that the fishery could negatively impact recreational angling throughout the estuary and its tributaries, as well as impact current and past efforts to restore naturally spawning fall salmon on the river.

"The proposed fishery would target fall stocks," he stated. "Given the high level of uncertainty associated with the condition of fall run 'naturals' in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers and tributary rivers and streams, we do not believe it would be wise to subject these stocks to potentially greater harvest levels at this time. Naturally reproducing fall run are not in over abundance in the Central Valley, as are hatchery produced fish."

In a time of declining marine resources and ongoing attempts to restore wild stocks of California salmon, the proposal for putting 10 commercial boats in San Francisco Bay in the height of the bay sportfishing season is a very bad idea that shows a lack of common sense. It is too bad that this proposal has created bad feelings between commercial and sportfishing groups, who are natural allies, but it should have never been proposed in the first place.