August 4, 2021 โ Over the last few months, hundreds of boats have been fishing off ofโor transiting alongโSanta Cruz Countyโs coastline. Industry analysts report plenty of bright spots in both the salmon and squid markets this season. But after some scientific studies were scuttled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic, and other research couldnโt be completed due to wildfires, fisheries management is still undergoing its own pandemic comeback, as climate change fears remain ever-present.
โItโs definitely been a good season,โ Scotts Valley resident Hans Haveman, the CEO of H&H Fresh Fish at the Santa Cruz Harbor says during a late-June interview. โUnfortunately, regulation from the state and feds have shut us down right when itโs goinโ good.โ
SALMON STOCK
Serious drought conditions in California have led to less water moving through the Klamath River Basin, up north near the Oregon-California state line, prompting the stateโs largest native tribe, the Yurok, to warn in May that โunless groundwater extraction is moderated, it is a virtual certainty that Chinook and Coho salmon will not be able to reach their spawning grounds due to insufficient flows for migration.โ Its fisheries department discovered an โextremely abnormalโ number of juvenile salmon dying, with 97% of the small fish infected by a parasite called C. shasta. And when authorities are forced to take action to mitigate such problems, the effects ripple down to Santa Cruz County, Haveman says.
โThey donโt want us to catch any of the fish from the Klamath Riverโlike, zero,โ he says, explaining how restrictions in other areas increased the number of Chinook, or king, salmon fishermen docked here. โThat pretty much makes Monterey Bay the hotspot for the entire fleet.โ
The season started with a bang. At one point there were about 45 salmon boats with slips in Santa Cruz, according to harbor staff. Mike Conroy, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermenโs Associations, a trade association representing West Coast commercial fishers, said the price was good, tooโ$12 a pound for kingโat the outset.