2010 chinook salmon forecast optimistic

UNITED STATES
Monday, March 15, 2010, 17:00 (GMT + 9)

There will at least be limited ocean chinook salmon fishing this year, according to the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC). This will provide the west coast’s salmon industry some relief after seeing its largest closures ever in the past two years. Federal biologists have predicted that 245,000 fall-run king salmon will swim up the Sacramento and San Joaquin river systems to spawn later this year, more than six times the amount that returned in 2009. The council has been criticised by California officials, however, for fabricating overly optimistic predictions for the Sacramento River. Only a third of the 122,000 chinook expected to return to the river last year actually showed up, The Oregonian reports. "We have concerns about the way in which the projections have been based," said Harry Morse, a spokesman at the California Department of Fish and Game. "There's no historical precedence for a return from 39,000 to 245,000 fish in one year." Only abo... FULL STORY