A guest post by Paul Johnson, Founder & President of Monterey Fish Market, a wholesale and retail fish market in the San Francisco Bay area. Paul also works with environmental and fishery groups to influence public policy
Paul Johnson of Monterey Fish Market
When I walk down to the docks, when I stop to look down Fish Alley at the end of Fisherman’s wharf, I see ghosts. I see the hundreds of small boat salmon fishermen that used to work local waters to support their families. I remember Fish Alley being a bustling market place; restaurants and markets came from all over the city to buy fresh fish from local waters, businesses that sold gear and gas and beer and boots thrived. It was part of the heart and soul of San Francisco. Today boats lay idle, fish wholesalers and support businesses have closed and thousands of jobs have been lost.
Much of the blame for these changes can be laid to the troubles of a California icon – wild King Salmon. The most important King salmon run on the west coast, fall run Sacramento River salmon, is experiencing a catastrophic collapse. In 2005, 800,000 mature salmon returned to the Sacramento River and its tributaries to spawn, and then last fall less than 39,000 fish returned. The problem has not been overfishing; it is the ever growing appetite of some San Joaquin Valley corporate farms for unsustainable levels of water to irrigate subsidized crops.
Salmon fishing in California and Oregon has been closed for two years to protect our threatened salmon; 23, 000 jobs related to salmon have been lost and thousands of businesses from boat builders to restaurateurs have been impacted. Wild salmon are an economic resource that supports an entire community; my own small wholesale seafood business and many others like it were dependent on the wild salmon season to provide as much as 35% of the year’s profit. Other businesses have been hit harder; no one is repairing their boat or buying new gear, and there are no recreational fishermen to stay in motels and frequent the markets of small coastal communities.
And its not just about jobs, by pushing salmon to the edge of extinction, we are losing much more than a fish — we are losing a healthy, sustainable food source, a culture and a way of life. For thousands of years wild salmon have been tied to the culinary, economic and cultural heritage of the West. There was a time when salmon were central to the lives of all who lived here.
Our salmon, the environment and the salmon community just want a fair share of the water, something that some politicians can’t seem to understand. The Fox news / Sean Hannity bandwagon has framed the issue as “the delta smelt versus jobs.” But I think many Californians can see through this false argument and recognize that if we manage our water system better, we can find a sustainable balance for agriculture and for fishermen. We need to have our voices heard so that elected officials in Congress can seek a fair compromise. It is not right to choose some special agricultural interests over the entire salmon industry in California. Some in Congress want to suspend all the protections for salmon and other Delta fish and just give in to agricultural demands for more water at all costs. This isn’t right.
We owe it to future generations to insure that they are able to enjoy salmon as a delicious wild food, have the opportunity to make a living from a sustainable resource and live amongst a creature that so magnificently connects the forests, streams and the sea to all of us. My way of life depends on this and tens of thousands of others stand with me.
Come show your support for wild California salmon, sport and commercial fishermen and coastal communities at Fort Mason on April 1st from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm when a coalition of salmon advocates, including members of congress who care, will host a salmon summit.