Sushihunter
Active Member
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/opinionshop/detail?&entry_id=63880
Why Salmon matter to San Francisco
By Jacky Douglas
I guess you could call me an ancient mariner with a fixation. I'm 82 years old, and I can think of only one thing: salmon fishing. Since 1972, I've skippered my charter boat, the Wacky Jacky, from Fishermen's Wharf in San Francisco. I take people whale watching and halibut and striped bass fishing -- but to be honest, these are sideshows. My boat and career -- my whole life, really -- are all about salmon.
Salmon support me, they supported my family, and catching them remains my life's work. But salmon are more than my vocation and personal passion. Salmon are part of San Francisco's culture and history -- and until recently, a major component of its economy. The salmon fishery was always big business in this town. Fishermen's Wharf was originally built to service two major fisheries: Dungeness crab and salmon. Local salmon were the backbone of a major seafood processing industry, and they were featured in every good restaurant in the Bay Area.
Moreover, when we had abundant salmon in our offshore waters, San Francisco Bay and our rivers, we knew our aquatic environment was in pretty good shape. Salmon and the people who catch and eat them weren't the only beneficiaries of these healthy ecosystems: so were all the other sport- and game-fish species, as well as a wide array of wildlife. It meant that our watersheds were stable, and that the water that flowed into our reservoirs was pure. It meant we had pollution from agriculture and our cities under control. That's why the last two years have been so difficult for me. For the first time since I've been fishing, there was no salmon season in 2008, and again in 2009. This year, we'll get a minimal season, one hobbled by severe restrictions.
The reason our fishing has been curtailed is simple: our salmon populations have crashed. Why? There are several secondary factors, but there is a single reason driving this decline that overrides all others -- the excessive diversion of freshwater from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to the corporate farms of the western San Joaquin Valley. Our salmon need cold, clean water in their spawning streams to survive, and they're not getting it.
I'm an emotional person, and I'm not ashamed to say that I sometimes cry when I think of what has happened to our salmon and our salmon fishermen. When I first started fishing, there were 35 charter boats working from Fishermen's Wharf. Today there are only seven.
At my age, obviously, I'm not worried about myself. But the thought that I may be one of the last representatives of a great San Francisco tradition and industry deeply depresses me; especially because it isn't necessary. We can revive our salmon and the salmon fleet -- all it will take is some determination to do the right thing.
Jackie Douglas is a fisherwoman and owner of the Wacky Jacky, which leaves from San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/opinionshop/detail?&entry_id=63880#ixzz0oL5qrjxh
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
Why Salmon matter to San Francisco
By Jacky Douglas
I guess you could call me an ancient mariner with a fixation. I'm 82 years old, and I can think of only one thing: salmon fishing. Since 1972, I've skippered my charter boat, the Wacky Jacky, from Fishermen's Wharf in San Francisco. I take people whale watching and halibut and striped bass fishing -- but to be honest, these are sideshows. My boat and career -- my whole life, really -- are all about salmon.
Salmon support me, they supported my family, and catching them remains my life's work. But salmon are more than my vocation and personal passion. Salmon are part of San Francisco's culture and history -- and until recently, a major component of its economy. The salmon fishery was always big business in this town. Fishermen's Wharf was originally built to service two major fisheries: Dungeness crab and salmon. Local salmon were the backbone of a major seafood processing industry, and they were featured in every good restaurant in the Bay Area.
Moreover, when we had abundant salmon in our offshore waters, San Francisco Bay and our rivers, we knew our aquatic environment was in pretty good shape. Salmon and the people who catch and eat them weren't the only beneficiaries of these healthy ecosystems: so were all the other sport- and game-fish species, as well as a wide array of wildlife. It meant that our watersheds were stable, and that the water that flowed into our reservoirs was pure. It meant we had pollution from agriculture and our cities under control. That's why the last two years have been so difficult for me. For the first time since I've been fishing, there was no salmon season in 2008, and again in 2009. This year, we'll get a minimal season, one hobbled by severe restrictions.
The reason our fishing has been curtailed is simple: our salmon populations have crashed. Why? There are several secondary factors, but there is a single reason driving this decline that overrides all others -- the excessive diversion of freshwater from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to the corporate farms of the western San Joaquin Valley. Our salmon need cold, clean water in their spawning streams to survive, and they're not getting it.
I'm an emotional person, and I'm not ashamed to say that I sometimes cry when I think of what has happened to our salmon and our salmon fishermen. When I first started fishing, there were 35 charter boats working from Fishermen's Wharf. Today there are only seven.
At my age, obviously, I'm not worried about myself. But the thought that I may be one of the last representatives of a great San Francisco tradition and industry deeply depresses me; especially because it isn't necessary. We can revive our salmon and the salmon fleet -- all it will take is some determination to do the right thing.
Jackie Douglas is a fisherwoman and owner of the Wacky Jacky, which leaves from San Francisco Fisherman's Wharf.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/opinionshop/detail?&entry_id=63880#ixzz0oL5qrjxh
Jim's Fishing Charters
www.JimsFishing.com
http://ca.youtube.com/user/Sushihunter250
