The Golden State Salmon Association started life as the Golden Gate Salmon Association, the brainchild of Sonoma County business leader Victor Gonella. Gonella had been an avid salmon fisherman and outdoorsman his entire life. Gonella had been deeply affected by the first-ever shutdown of salmon fishing in California that occurred in 2008 and 2009. His idea was to create an organization that could ensure that such a shutdown would never happen again. To do so, salmon stocks would need to be rebuilt, and conditions that would sustain them both in the wild and at hatcheries would need to be created.
Building a Coalition of Salmon Leaders
The next step involved recruiting like-minded leaders from across the salmon industry. Fishing tackle industry leader Dick Pool, owner of Pro Troll Fishing Tackle and the developer of the Scotty downrigger, learned of Gonella’s intention and shared it. Pool was well-connected across the salmon industry through his background, not only in tackle development and sales but also in his advocacy for salmon. Pool had been a main driver of protection for dwindling populations of winter-run king salmon in the late 1980’s and into the early 1990’s. Through the efforts of Pool and others, the winter run was finally declared endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1994.
Pool brought the executive director of the commercial salmon organization, the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, Zeke Grader, to meet Gonella. He also brought charter boat leader Roger Thomas.
The First Founding Meeting
Soon, a meeting was held in late 2010 to expand the list of members who would found the Golden Gate Salmon Association. This meeting happened at Fishermen’s Wharf in San Francisco. Among those present was Randy Repass, founder and principal of West Marine. Also present was John McManus, then a communications professional at Earthjustice, the nation’s biggest environmental law firm. Many other leaders from the charter boat, sport, and commercial salmon sectors also participated.
A Young Organization Put to the Test
2013 was a good salmon-fishing year, but drought began that year and stretched into 2014 and beyond, soon putting the young GGSA to the test. In the spring of 2014, flows in the Sacramento River were too low to safely release the millions of juvenile hatchery salmon normally released there. GGSA leadership called on managers of both state and federal hatcheries to truck juvenile salmon downstream to safe-release sites.
The state managers agreed, but the federal managers of Coleman hatchery dragged their feet, worried that doing so would result in few salmon returning to the hatchery two years later. GGSA leaders called for a series of meetings with top-level federal officials, including members of Congress, and eventually won agreement that trucking the Coleman hatchery fish was the best course of action.
GGSA’s First Major Policy Victory
GGSA had won its first major policy showdown. Although many mistakes were made in transporting the federal fish, and few returned to the hatchery years later, an important new agreement was reached with hatchery officials. It called for the trucking of fish if and when certain drought conditions presented themselves in the future. This agreement has since been used, saving possibly millions of salmon from dying in low-flow, dangerous river conditions.
Establishing a Voice in Water and Salmon Policy
GGSA quickly demonstrated its ability to influence salmon and water policy decisions by working with decision-makers in the state capitol to ensure the voice of the salmon industry was heard and by shaping the political climate to ensure the views of the salmon industry were presented in the press.
Fundraising and Early Growth
Gonella’s decades of active membership in the California Waterfowl Association proved invaluable in establishing GGSA. His idea to use what he learned from organizing fundraising dinners at CWA as a guide for GGSA fundraising worked. Money came in from the dinners that provided the vast majority of funding in the early years.
Under Gonella and the other salmon industry leaders, GGSA grew and, in 2013, hired its first full-time staff member, John McManus, as executive director.
Leadership Transition and Long-Term Stability
Gonella’s extensive connections with other California outdoorsmen and women proved pivotal in winning the broad support for GGSA in the early days. When Gonella eventually pulled back from hands-on leadership at GGSA, the organization he’d built was strong enough to carry on. West Marine founder Randy Repass took over as chairman of the board, which ensured a steady hand on the wheel going forward.
Recognition and Legacy
In 2019, Gonella was awarded a Salmon Lifetime Conservation Award by California’s salmon industry in recognition of the many years of hard work he put in. He was also recognized in the US Congressional Record and in a resolution from the California State Legislature for his contributions to salmon conservation. He continues to outfish most of his fellow salmon fishermen to this day.