With salmon season opening this month, North Bay commercial fishermen appear on the hook to meet the public’s increasing appetite for the top-of-the-line, culinary favorite.
The season started south of the San Francisco Bay Area on May 1. Five days later, fishing enthusiasts in the Northern California waters nibbled at the season until May 12. That began a six-day hold imposed by the state Department of Fish and Wildlife due to market conditions prompted by the coronavirus pandemic.
Bodega Bay fisherman Dick Ogg was unimpressed with what he has seen so far compared to other openings he’s experienced in 20 years of going out.
“It was very unproductive,” Ogg told the Business Journal. “We went all over the place.”
He attributed the lower catch to colder water temperatures and lack of sea life in the food chain. The Pacific Ocean stands at about 48-51 degrees Fahrenheit at the Sonoma County latitude from the marina he launches from. He said the ideal water temperature is 53 degrees.
When the season reopens on May 18, Ogg expects the fish will be out for the taking — presumably. After all, oceanography, like meteorology, is not an exact science.
“The temperatures seem to be changing,” he said with hesitation. “We’re going to have to wait.”
And perhaps so will the customers unless the fish come from other sources. Certainly the demand is there.
At present, Osprey Seafood in Napa is paying $7 per pound, said Retail Manager Adam Gibney. The wholesale market prices in general have ranged from $5 to $10 on a good day. Gibney likes what he sees so far mostly from the waters south of Santa Cruz.
The Wine Country fish market is accommodating a surge in retail spending from more customers cooking at home. Despite losing its wholesale restaurant business during the state’s shutdown caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, the retail operation has gone up 125%, Gibney reported last month.
“People went from panic buying to boredom cooking,” he quipped. “We had a line around the building all day long.”
Osprey hit a record — 200 pounds in a day. Since the salmon season opened, “we haven’t sold less than 50 pounds a day,” he explained.
At this point, the organization that supports 14 fishing associations along the Pacific Ocean has heard some boats are getting bites.
“The catches were OK. I think a lot of the guys think it will go gangbusters with fish falling from the sky,” said Mike Conroy, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen Association.
One of the federation’s groups, the California Coast Crab Association, is downright crabby about that season being cut short.
Association President Ben Platt still wants an explanation from Fish and Wildlife as to why the crab season was closed on May 15 instead of its usual July 1 deadline.
Platt told the Journal the state agency has cited environmental reasons with whales getting snagged in the crab nets. But he claims the agency lacks evidence of the issue, and he believes officials are just avoiding lawsuits from environmental groups.
“It makes no sense. They’re not following their own criteria and doing a disservice. We’re losing a significant amount of income. The boats enjoy a nice spring bite,” Platt said. “We have massive unemployment. You would think crabbing would help.”
The crab fishermen were given 30 days to bring up their pots from the water as a result of a settlement reached with the Center for Biological Diversity and the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which met with the fishing fleet on April 9.
“Whale entanglement(s) typically happen in March and go through June, so it’s early,” department spokeswoman Jordan Traverso said. “We feel for them, but it’s not like they haven’t been at the table. We’re trying to navigate this the best way we can.”
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Some say there are too few California North Coast fish, but customers seek more amid coronavirus sheltering at home - North Bay Business Journal
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