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SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- The stunning collapse of one of the West Coast's biggest wild salmon runs has prompted even cash-strapped fishermen to call for an unprecedented shutdown of salmon fishing off the coasts of California and Oregon.

"There's likely no fish, so what are you going to be fishing for?" asked Duncan MacLean, a fisherman from Half Moon Bay. "I have no problem sitting out to rebuild this resource if that's what's necessary." The Pacific Fishery Management Council meets in Seattle this week and will likely vote to impose the most severe restrictions ever on West Coast salmon fishing to protect California's dwindling chinook stocks.

The Sacramento River chinook run is usually one of the most productive on the Pacific Coast, providing the bulk of the salmon caught by sport and commercial trollers off California and Oregon.

But only about 90,000 adult chinook returned to the Central Valley last fall -- the second lowest number on record and well below the number needed to maintain a healthy fishery. That number is projected to fall to a record low of 58,000 this year. By contrast, 775,000 adults were counted in the Sacramento River and its tributaries as recently as 2002.

"This stock got off-the-charts bad very suddenly," said Donald McIsaac, the council's executive director. "It's a very, very severe situation."

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Originally posted by SignyM:
WHEN are we going to wake up as a species and realize that the earth is not an endless resource?

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Originally posted by Fremdfirma:
We could eat the politicians.

Just a thought.

-F

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Originally posted by BigDamnNobody:
So unless you have a plan to somehow cull the Earth's population to more sustainable levels, how do you suggest we stop using up the Earth?

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Originally posted by AURaptor:
Ewww. Same reason I don't eat catfish. Bottomfeeders

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Originally posted by Hero:

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Originally posted by AURaptor:
Ewww. Same reason I don't eat catfish. Bottomfeeders

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Catfish is great!

H

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Originally posted by AURaptor:
Yeah, and next you'll be telling me that okra is delicious too! Neither fried or fresh will I ever suffer okra on my plate. Nevah!

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