This week the Pacific Fishery Management Council adopted ocean salmon season recommendations—which will be forwarded to the National Marine Fisheries Service for approval by May 1—for the numerous individual salmon stocks on the West Coast. The short seasons reflect poor ocean and river conditions in recent years. For commercial fisheries, the area between Horse Mountain in Fort Bragg to Pigeon Point in San Francisco will be open for a week in late July, most of August and all of September. The season from Point Reyes to Point San Pedro will consist of two five-day periods in October. For recreational fisheries, the stretch from Fort Bragg and San Francisco will be open from mid-June through October. “This year’s package includes some very restrictive seasons in both commercial and recreational fisheries along the entire coast,” said Phil Anderson, who chairs the council. “Low abundances of chinook and coho are in part due to the poor ocean conditions the adult fish faced as juveniles when they entered the ocean, and poor in-river habitat and water conditions.” He added, “Tribal, commercial, and recreational fishers continue to bear a large part of the burden of conservation.”