Fishing for the climate

Charlottesville Daily Progress
Published: May 5, 2008

On one coast, the collapse of salmon fishing.

On the other, the collapse of crab harvesting.

On both coasts, emergency efforts to prevent the collapse of the species.

Here in Virginia, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine has asked the federal government to declare Virginia’s blue crab population a “fishery resource disaster.” If the request is granted, Congress would be empowered to provide economic assistance to watermen whose livelihoods are at risk.

The blue crab is — or was — a staple of the Chesapeake Bay’s bounty. Both Virginia and Maryland pride themselves on their ability to produce this delicacy, which is a feature at many a bay-area restaurant. A chance to order blue crab is an attraction for tourists.

The blue crab fishery is estimated to be a $125 million business.

But now the crab population is so low that scientists fear one big storm could destroy the fishery.

In the past 15 years, the bay’s blue crab population has plunged by 70 percent. In the early 1990s — not that long ago — the bay was home to approximately 400 million crabs of harvestable size. Today there are fewer than 120 million. The commonwealth’s harvest was at a near record low last year at slightly more than 19 million.

Nineteen million may sound like plenty. But look at the overall numbers. Look at the trend downward.

Virginia has been toughening its regulations to curtail pollution and increasing its funding for remediation and habitat support. But experts say these are long-term efforts that have yet to pay off in measurable ways for watermen.

On the opposite side of the continent, a fishery disaster already has been declared. This year’s spawning run of the chinook salmon run in California’s Sacramento River has been deemed a collapse.

Only 60,000 salmon are expected to return to the river later this year to lay eggs. That is only about a third of the number that scientists consider necessary to sustain a healthy fishing population.

Scientists are looking at possible causes ranging from agricultural pollution, to dam blockages, to ocean conditions.

Washington, Oregon and California estimate their total losses at $290 million.

“This is a bleak year,” said Jim Balsiger, acting assistant administrator of the National Marine Fisheries Service.

Gov. Kaine had his own bleak prospect to contend with. “The blue crab fishery is in dire straits and our watermen are enduring serious hardship,” he said, in announcing the request for disaster designation.

Two environments, two industries a continent apart facing similar crises.

You don’t have to be a scientist to see that something is terribly wrong — perhaps on a global scale.