The coho salmon of the central California coast, stretching from Punta Gorda to the San Lorenzo River, have already been listed as "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act.

Commercial and sport fishermen have already been prevented from harvesting coho salmon in the ocean for four years, so for them a 'de-facto' listing has already been in effect. The recent decision will result in a ban on harvest of coho in the region's streams, according to Jim Leckey of NMFS. However, this ban is pretty much a moot point to anglers; wild coho salmon are now a rarity in California streams, compared to the more abundant chinooks, and have not provided a viable fishery for over a decade. The California coho population has crashed to less than 5,000 fish today.

Environmental organizations and fisheries conservation groups were encouraged by the ruling, but wanted to see if the service would be as zealous in restricting logging and bad land use practices as they have been in imposing restrictions upon fishermen.

"The Sierra Club is encouraged by the steps taken today by the Clinton administration to create a framework for coho salmon protection in California," said Elyssa Rosen of the Sierra Club. "We are hopeful that this indicates a commitment to on-the-ground protections, and not the continued lip service and placating of the timber industry on this issue that has guided recent government decisions." "This listing will only be meaningful if the Clinton administration follows through with land use guidelines which, to date, have been absent in the area listed last year," she emphasized. "We can only hope that the federal government will refuse to be bullied by the Wilson administration and their allies on this issue."

Some groups felt that the service should have also granted the higher status of "endangered' - as opposed to the less restrictive designation of "threatened" - to indicate the seriousness of the decline in the once abundant fish.

"There's only one word for the coho salmon: endangered," said William L. Rekeyser, the communications director of the California Biodiversity Alliance, a coalition of environmental organizations. "This fish used to be, and still should be, a valuable harvest which could provide jobs for thousands of Californians."

The fisheries service decided to not list the coho of Oregon's central and north coast, the "Oregon Coast ESU," as "threatened," relying instead upon an agreement that it reached with the state of Oregon to protect these fish. The agency placed this population on the "candidate species" list, with a mandatory review of the fish's biological status.

The Oregon Coast population is comprised of native, natural reproducing coho in coastal river basins from Cape Blanco to the Oregon River. This population has declined from an estimated 1 to 1.4 million native coho to only 80,000 fish.

"Oregon's is by far the most comprehensive conservation plan any state has ever offered to protect a species proposed for Endangered Species Act listing," said William Steele, head of the federal agency's northwest regional office. "It's a road map for salmon recovery in the West." However, fishery groups, rather than extolling the virtues of the voluntary Oregon plan, found the no-list in Oregon "highly disturbing" and "appalling."

"First, we don't believe voluntarism will work," said Zeke Grader, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen's Associations. "We're not talking about a thousand points of light, we're talking about trying to save some fish that are dangerously close to extinction. Voluntarism, as you know, is not enforceable. Moreover, if voluntarism were the way to go, why are prohibitions on coho in the fishery mandatory?"

Until the timber industry is held responsible for its role in the destruction of coho habitat, the root of the fish's decline cannot be dealt with. While the timber industry continues to receive special treatment by the Governors of California and Oregon, fishermen continue to bear the brunt of economic hardships caused by increasing salmon fishing restrictions and dramatic declines in the once abundant coho fishery.