Another stock collapse -- Pacific salmon?

For those of you who carefully look around the fish counter for wild salmon instead of its farm-raised cousin, bad news.

Federal officials are likely to close Pacific salmon stocks from Oregon south to the Mexican border, The New York Times has reported.

“The Central Valley fall Chinook salmon are in the worst condition since records began to be kept,” the newspaper quoted Robert Lohn, regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries in Portland, Ore., as saying. “This is the largest collapse of salmon stocks in 40 years.”

The possible culprits? The newspaper listed two possibilities: A battle on the Sacramento River between irrigation advocates and environmentalists and fishing groups, and abnormal fishing conditions that might be affecting the food chain of young salmon.

The likely closings would not cover Washington and Alaska salmon areas, said the Times, which did it could not how much the closings would affect prices.

(By David Beard)