By Bennett Hall
NEWPORT - The Port of Newport's commercial docks are full.
Too full.
In a good year, as many as 100 of the port's 350-vessel commercial fishing fleet would be out at sea this time of year doing what they do best - trolling for salmon.
But this is far from a good year.
Following the spectacular collapse of the Sacramento River Chinook salmon stock, federal fisheries managers announced an unprecedented shutdown of the entire Chinook season off the Oregon and California coasts and a tightly restricted coho season.
A few local boats tried to take advantage of last week's limited Chinook season opener in Washington state waters, without much success.
"We headed out (May 2) and blew a head gasket," said Bob Gebhard, who limped back to Newport to make repairs to his 40-foot trolling boat, the Terry S.
"It's just as well," he added from the deck, surrounded by tools and engine parts. "Nobody's catching anything."
These are hard times for the West Coast salmon fleet, and Newport is feeling the pinch. Up and down the commercial docks, fishermen like Gebhard are stuck in port, puttering around on their boats when they should be out making money.
"I honestly don't know what fishermen and their families will do," said Nancy Fitzpatrick of the Oregon Salmon Commission. "Because this is huge."
Run of bad luck
Salmon fishing has been poor for the last three years, in part because of low returns on the Klamath River system, and many boat owners were already struggling when this year's season was called off. Some can try to make ends meet by going after tuna, cod or crab. But many salmon boats are not equipped for other fisheries, and refitting can be prohibitively expensive.
"We haven't salmon-fished for three years," said Larry Wilson, captain of the 50-foot Lillie M.
Wilson calls the collapse of the Sacramento stock "mind-boggling" and expects more lean years ahead before the runs bounce back. Some salmon boats, he predicts, won't be able to hang on.
"There's a whole bunch of 'em on Dock 7 over here I think are just gonna go away," Wilson said. "There ain't gonna be any salmon up here for the next two or three years."
At age 67, he's ready to sell his boat and retire - if he can find a buyer.
"I thought we had it sold," he said. "Then we had this crunch."
Lee Taylor, skipper of the 42-foot Nile II, isn't ready to hang it up just yet. He'll make a few runs for cod, and he'll go out for tuna this summer. And if giving up the commercial salmon season is what it takes to let the fish recover, that's a price he's willing to pay.
"I'm a sport fisherman, too, and even locally, the runs are down two-thirds," he said. "Because I'm a sportsman and I care about the fish, I don't mind giving 'em a break."
Taylor's been fishing for a living since 1969, long enough to see some major swings in salmon numbers. But the trend has been more down than up, and like a lot of the older hands in the Newport fleet, he worries that, this time, salmon runs may not recover enough to support a large commercial fishery.
"A lot of the guys are lamenting the loss of a wonderful, exciting thing to do," he said.
Gebhard said he'll go after tuna this summer, but he's not counting on a return to the glory days, when big runs and generous limits made salmon fishing a lucrative venture. At 59, he's already looking toward retirement.
"I'll survive because everything I've got is paid for," he said. "I feel sorry for the young people, thinking they can make a go of this. It's going to be awful tough unless something changes."
Ripple effect
Oregon's $421 million commercial fishing industry is a lot bigger than just salmon, with crab, sardines, groundfish, whiting, shrimp and tuna among the most important species in the state's coastal waters. Oregon's distant-water fleet - the big boats that chase fish as far away as the Bering Sea or the South Pacific - also accounts for a big share of the catch.
Still, salmon remains an important part of the coastal economy. Over the last five years, salmon fishing brought in an average of $15 million in annual personal income for the state's coastal communities, according to a recent report from the Research Group, a Corvallis consulting firm.
This year's restrictions, the report calculated, will drive that figure below
$1 million, a 96 percent reduction.
"Salmon is still one of the most important fisheries for our fleet," said Don Mann, manager of the Port of Newport. He expects the port, like other businesses in this coastal town, will take a hit from the salmon shutdown.
"If the salmon boats can't go out and go fishing, they can't pay their moorage," Mann said. "They're using our hoist services less, buying less fuel, less ice, supplies, groceries - that's where the domino effect comes in."
Recreational fishing is also big in Newport, where charter boats take tourists on cruises out of Yaquina Bay to wrestle with the big, powerful fish. For many vacationers, salmon fishing is Newport's most attractive lure.
"Salmon affects a lot of people," said Lincoln County Commissioner Terry Thompson, a former commercial fisherman. "That impacts our hotel business, it impacts our marinas - a lot of areas of our economy are going to feel this."
In addition to the economic ripple effects, Thompson's worried about the human costs to fishermen and their families.
"For the most part, (fishermen) are doing what they love to do. When all of a sudden you tell 'em they can't fish, the frustration boils out in all kinds of ways," Thompson said. "This has an impact far beyond the finances."
Bridge to the future
Some help may be on the way for beleaguered salmon fishermen in the form of federal disaster assistance.
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez has asked Congress for $60 million in aid for West Coast fishermen. A disaster declaration for the 2006 salmon season brought a similar amount of relief, and the state kicked in another $3.5 million in direct payments to Oregon fishermen.
"If it follows last year's model, I think they'll be getting it by fall, or even late summer," said Hans Radtke, an economist who tracks the Oregon fishing industry.
While that may be enough to keep many commercial salmon fishermen afloat until next season, Radtke's not optimistic they'll have more fish to catch.
"These things don't rebound just like that. I would suspect it's going to take some time," he said.
In fact, Radtke thinks the time may have come for Oregon to phase out its commercial salmon fishery altogether. He favors a buyout program for commercial permits and a transition to a system that allows recreational and tribal fishing only.
"I think if we treat salmon more as a cultural item and a tourist attraction item, we'll be much better off," Radtke said.
"I wouldn't be building a boat."
Bennett Hall can be reached at 758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net.