By Kana McNiff
All ocean salmon Fishery Openers from the Oregon coast all the way down to Mexico were canceled this year by the National Marine Fisheries Service due to the lack of salmon fish returning to the Pacific coast. While the global supply of farmed salmon will continue to remain stable, salmon fishers say it’s a massive financial burden.
The two main fisheries in the San Francisco Bay Area are Dungeness Crab and Salmon. With crab season delayed and salmon season canceled, the fishing industry is expected to take a huge financial hit. Many small local fishermen who make most of their income from fishing salmon are now questioning, “What’s next?” How will these fishermen make money? Although many fishing communities are taking a big hit, many of them agree that a ban on salmon fishing is the best thing to do for their population. The ban will hopefully allow salmon to naturally regenerate.
The scariest thing about this situation is that we are seeing the effects of climate change on the local wildlife and businesses in real time. Many of these salmon fish species who need cold, clean water to survive, have significantly dwindled due to the ongoing drought in California and the rising water temperatures due to global warming.
At the rate we are going at, there will be virtually no edible fish in the ocean by the year 2048. We are consuming faster than our natural resources can naturally regenerate. It seems like at this point, all we can do is cross our fingers and hope that the effects of our own mistakes can be reversed.
beniciapaw.com 