WEEKEND EDITION
Friends of Music Prepares 35th Season see Page B1 Saturday August 31, 2019
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Brookings, Oregon
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Highway 101: A roadside stop - for weeks struction zone can be expected. “Next Wednesday, Sept. 4, we will be installing a temporary signal system that could be in place until the end of October,” said Cochrane. “We are aiming for earlier, but weather can slow us down sometimes.” The signal light will limit traffic to one lane though the work area. Cochrane said temporary flagging was in place this past week for water utility relocation. “We realize there is heavy traffic and we do understand it is an inconvenience to wait,” he said.
Jeremy C. Ruark Pilot Editor
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culvert repair project along U.S. Highway 101 in Smith River will continue well into October, with transportation officials hoping for motorists’ patience. The Ritter Creek project is designed to fix a failing culvert. Flaggers have been controlling traffic through the area, limiting travel to one lane. CalTrans public information officer Myles Cochrane said 20-minute delays through the con-
“The end goal is for water not to accumulate on the highway.” Cochrane said the project will also be an environmental plus for fish. “We are creating a morefriendly fish passage in the nearby creek. That will be wonderful for fish migration there.” The good news for Labor Day travelers: Crews will not be working at the site over the holiday, Aug. 30 to Sept. 2. The repair is part of a $3.25-million overall culvert system improvement that included work along Highway 197.
A flagger holds northbound traffic on U.S. Highway 101 as vehicles move south through a worksite in Smith River. Photo by Jeremy C. Ruark.
Salmon avoid south Oregon Coast
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thick patches of the herring that allowed the salmon to feed in the California bays,” Delonge said. “Also, the ocean water off the Oregon coast has been in the mid60s. The salmon can’t survive in such (warm) temperatures.” Oregon Fish and Wildlife Department spokesperson Michelle Dennehy said several Chinook salmon forecasts for 2019 were substantially improved over poor returns in 2016-2018 - but none were particularly high, when compared to the years prior to 2016’s downturn. “Oregon ocean Chinook fishing is heavily reliant on stocks from California, in particular fall Chinook stocks from the Klamath River and Sacramento River Basin,” she said. “These stocks make up the vast majority of our ocean catch of Chinook. “Both of these stocks were forecast to be improved this year, relative to very poor recent years, including 2017, when the south coast of Oregon was closed for salmon due to depressed Klamath and Sacramento Chinook runs.” Dennehy declared that restrictions or limitations in 2019 in fact were not eased in California, and there was not an early salmon season opening there. Seasons from 2016-2018 in California and Oregon had been more
Jeremy C. Ruark Pilot Editor
or any number of reasons, California is experiencing a banner salmon fishing season. In Oregon, not so much. “It’s terrible,” Gold Beach-based Five Star Charter’s Mark Lottis said. “There are no fish. I think they all got caught down south before they got up here.” Lottis said an early forecast for a large salmon run returning to Oregon never materialized. “People booked charters based on that forecast and last year’s fishing success,” Lottis said. “They booked a year ago and early this spring, so they made a commitment to come, and they were disappointed like everybody else.” He said he also believes fishing restrictions were eased - and the salmon season allowed to begin earlier than normal - in California, with a corresponding impact on Oregon’s salmon season. Southern Oregon coast fisherman Dave Delonge said the cutoff of the commercial Pacific Ocean herring season in California, as well as warmer waters in Oregon, have influenced Oregon salmon fishing this summer. “The Pacific herring is one of the main feeding sources for salmon, so when the commercial season was cut off, it produced
restrictive than normal, Dennehy said, in response to the depressed status of Klamath and Sacramento stocks. Thus, fisheries in 2019 are similar to “normal” years in both states, she said. While some may have opened earlier than they did in 2018, for example, it’s because 2018 was more restricted than normal, not because 2019 is less restricted. “Catches in California have been significantly better than expected,” acknowledged Dennehy. “However, most of those high catches have been in the more-southern portions of the California fisheries. “It appears that fish from the Sacramento Basin, in particular, have stayed closer to their home river than we’d normally expect, and that increased the density of fish in these areas, driving a higher catch. “It is also entirely possible that there are more Sacramento Chinook than were forecast.” Dennehy said there’s no evidence that increased catches in the southern areas of the California fishery are unusually affecting Rogue or other Oregon stocks, nor abnormally affecting their migrations. “Rogue Chinook normally are More Salmon on Page A3
During a good run, the salmon catch along the southern Oregon coast can be profitable. Photo courtesy Leonard Krug.
Following the salmon to central California F
seasons in years. “It was a good one,” acknowledged fisherman Richard Hagel of Crescent City, “(although) I don’t know if I’d term it one of the best. We’ve had some big years in the past, you know. “But I would say that in recent history, it was the best season.”
Jessica Goddard Staff Writer
ishermen along the California coast boasted boatloads of prized salmon during this year’s season, which reportedly has been one of the better salmon fishing
That depends on where you fish, of course. Not every California fisherman got that lucky. Some reported that very few salmon made it to the state’s northern coast. “Nobody seems to understand why, but the fish stayed south,” said Rick Shepherd of Crescent City, president of the
Crescent City Commercial Fishermen’s Association. While salmon generally migrate north, this year they swarmed the areas of Bodego Bay, Monterey Bay and even as south as Morro Bay, just north of San Luis Obispo. Yet that didn’t stop fishermen
to the north from pursuing their catch. Many from Crescent City took boats and crews down south, as if chasing gold. And many of those fared well, catching upwards More Salmon 2 on Page A3
This Labor Day,
we appreciate all of the hard-working members of our community that make this such a great place to live.
Relax and Enjoy a Safe and Fun Weekend!
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