The whales are looking for other sources of salmon
after the collapse of the Klamath River salmon fishery, Grader said. "The fishery
collapsed not because of fishing or even sea lions or killer whales but because
of bad water policy that created the situation where a parasite took over and
killed off most of the salmon," he added. The Klamath die-off led to the cancellation of the
2006 commercial salmon season all along the West Coast, even though there were
plenty of fish coming from the Sacramento River. The intent was to
protect the few remaining fish from the Klamath stock that mingled with their
Sacramento cousins.
Tuesday, federal officials announced a plan that could
result in the removal of Klamath River dams. Salmon would once again be free to
swim upstream and spawn, but the dam removal process could take 8 to 10 years. "Unlike what we did in Iraq --
where we could send in a B-1 (bomber) and take out eight dams on the Tigris and
Euphrates River in one day -- we can't just order in a B-1 strike on this
river," Grader said. Fishermen said restoration of the Klamath
stock is good news for the long term, but that's not going to help them this
year. "I think
realistically we're looking at another bad year only because the runs in the
Klamath look very bad," Grader said. And it isn't just Klamath
salmon that are threatened. Fishermen said new diversions of water from the
Delta could cause the whole salmon system to collapse.