March 17, 2016 — Olympia, Wash. — Regional fishery managers are considering the rare step of closing recreational and commercial salmon fishing off the coast of Washington and northern Oregon this summer due to a low number of returning coho salmon.
Butch Smith, owner of Coho Charters in Ilwaco, Washington, said a no-fishing option would be devastating to coastal communities, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported.
“Fishing is our lifeblood,” he said. “Fishing is our Boeing and our Microsoft.”
The Pacific Fishery Management Council is eyeing the shutdown as one of three alternatives as it sets fishing seasons off the Pacific coast. Two other options released Monday would permit some salmon fishing.
The last time salmon fishing was closed in the waters was 1994. It was severely curtailed in 2008.
The current proposal would close recreational and commercial non-tribal ocean fishing for chinook and coho salmon north of Cape Falcon, near Manzanita, Oregon.
Read the full story from the Associated Press at The New Jersey Herald