Outdoor Notes / Earl Gustkey : Salmon Run Is Called Astonishing

An estimated 186,300 adult king salmon entered the Klamath-Trinity river systems in 1986, a number state Department of Fish and Game biologists called “astonishing.”

The number compares to 59,300 in 1985 and 43,500 in 1984, the all-time low. The improvement was largely attributed to tightened commercial, sport and Indian fishing regulations on the two rivers, the DFG said.

“This success is possible because over the past two years, all users agreed to protect and share the resource and to manage their harvest so that more salmon make it to spawning beds,” said DFG deputy director Bob Fletcher.

In 1985, ocean commercial salmon fishing was banned north of Shelter Cove near southern Humboldt County because of the previous year’s low numbers. Ocean sport, Klamath-Trinity River sport and Indian net fishing were also put under tight restrictions.

Returning Klamath-Trinity salmon and salmon spawners in the Sacramento-San Joaquin river systems totaled 380,000, a 22% increase over the 1985 count and far exceeding the 1978-85 eight-year average of 218,600.

“Although all is not yet well for naturally spawning stocks of salmon in California, it is encouraging to see the improved numbers for these runs,” said L.B. Boydstun, DFG biologist.

The DFG’s Long Beach office is looking for volunteers to help build and install three wildlife watering facilities in Anza-Borrego State Park on the weekend of Feb. 7-8.

Workers will help clear brush, lay concrete, fit pipe and perform other construction tasks. The facilities are for bighorn sheep, deer and other desert wildlife.

Briefly Entomologists at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County ask that anyone finding dead, banded Monarch butterflies return them to Chris Nagano at the museum, 900 Exposition Blvd., Los Angeles. . . . Winchester, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of its Model 101 over-and-under double-barrel shotgun, will manufacture 101 “Silver Anniversary” 101s. . . . Showtime: Southern California Boat Show, Los Angeles Convention Center, Jan. 30-Feb. 8. . . . The National Coalition for Marine Conservation’s annual North-South Billfish Tournament has been scheduled for Aug. 29. . . . The Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission’s annual tuna conference will be held at the University of California Conference Center at Lake Arrowhead, May 17-20.

Bob Rawstron, veteran DFG fisheries biologist, has been awarded California Trout’s 1986 Golden Trout Award. . . . Recreational Boaters of California reminds boaters that 1987 is the first year of implementation of California’s new law pertaining to intoxicated boat operators. The law authorizes peace officers to request any boat operator suspected of intoxication to submit to a chemical test of the person’s blood, breath or urine. . . . The National Wildlife Federation’s 1987 directory of 2,000 wildlife-conservation organizations is available for $17.50 from NWF headquarters in Washington, D.C.