Chinook Salmon are endangered, but despite every effort there are still people, poachers, who could care less. In Sonoma County, there’s a new war on poaching just as the fish begin their migration up the Russian River for spawning. But not everyone is as aware when it comes to the endangered Chinook scallops. That’s why the Sonoma County water agency has teamed up with local sheriffs to spread the word — that poaching Chinook here is illegal. Sgt. Robert Pacheco, Sonoma Co. Sheriffs Department: “They’re there for the fight of the fish. It’s not so much like abalone where there’s a black market to sell the fish on or that they need the food.” The period between September and early December marks the annual journey of the endangered Chinook from the Pacific Ocean upriver to their spawning habitat north of Santa Rosa. Sean White, Sonoma County Water Agency: “If we make it so they don’t make it to that reproductive stage, then their contribution to the next generation is eliminated. And even though they’re going to die anyway, they need to live long enough to reproduce.” Under the ban on fishing for Chinook in the Russian River, it’s not even okay to catch and release. Sean White, Sonoma County Water Agency: “Just the energy it expends during the fight and getting reeled in could be enough that it would dump its eggs.”
The focus right now is on education, not enforcement, but that will change when sheriffs run into repeat offenders. Then it will become a matter of citations, and possibly, jail time.