A sharp cut to West Coast salmon limits lands on fish Alaska shares

Federal managers have cut the number of Chinook that commercial trollers may catch along a stretch of the West Coast by three-quarters, a change that matters in Alaska because the salmon these fisheries chase do not stay put.

The cut applies to the ocean troll fishery between the U.S.-Canada border and Cape Falcon, Oregon, off the coasts of Washington and Oregon. Starting this week, trollers there may keep 10 Chinook per boat each week, down from 40. The limit on marked coho rose slightly, to 100 fish from 75.

None of that water is in Alaska. But West Coast and Alaska fisheries are linked through shared, mixed stocks of salmon that move through the same ocean, and a change to how many fish come out of the water off Washington and Oregon can reach runs that matter farther north. Federal reviews note that Puget Sound salmon turn up in fisheries off British Columbia and, to a lesser degree, off Southeast Alaska.

At the same time, federal managers are closing parts of California's salmon fisheries, both the commercial ocean fishery and the recreational season in some areas along the central and northern coast.

What the notice does not explain is its own most striking feature: why the Chinook limit fell by three-quarters while the coho allowance went up. The two moved in opposite directions with no reason given. It is not a small question for the boats, which plan their trips and their income around the weekly limits, and it carries a conservation edge as well. The Pacific Fishery Management Council's own technical reviewers have warned that allowing more coho to be caught north of Cape Falcon can increase pressure on depressed mixed-stock runs, the same kind of shared fish that tie these waters to Alaska. The federal account is the only one in the notice.