San Francisco, CA (January 26, 2016) -- The Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA) congratulates Captain Roger Thomas on his well-deserved induction into the California Outdoor Hall of Fame on Saturday, January 23. Thomas serves as chairman of GGSA as well as president of the Golden Gate Fishermen’s Association, a group representing charter boat owners.

“Roger Thomas has probably done more to keep our salmon fishery alive than anyone since the late Zeke Grader,” said GGSA executive director John McManus. “Roger has worked tirelessly for decades to represent the interest of salmon fishermen and salt water anglers and we all owe him a debt of gratitude.”

Among the many hats Thomas has worn are the years he served on the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, the group that sets ocean salmon fishing seasons, among its many duties. The season setting process is an arduous affair that in recent years has required a balancing of various interests to get a sustainable fishing season. Thomas’s even handed work on the Council won him the respect of both recreational and commercial salmon fishermen.

In addition to running charter fishing trips out of Half Moon Bay and Sausalito, Thomas runs whale watching and nature tours where he’s introduced untold thousands of people to the incredible natural world just offshore of the San Francisco bay area. Since first running a charter boat in 1968, Thomas has spent more than 10,000 days on the ocean fishing or studying wildlife.

Born in Gilroy, Thomas began fishing out of nearby Monterey Bay and has been working to improve water and fishery issues for over 40 years. Today he runs the Salty Lady, a state of the art comfortable 56 foot Westport charter boat made in Washington state.

Some of the other hats Captain Thomas has worn over the years (and still does in some cases):
He’s been a council member of the Bay Delta Advisory Board, member of the Winter Run – Captive Broodstock Committee, member of the Central Valley Fisheries Coalition, member of Coastal Pelagic Fisheries Advisory Subpanel to the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, member of the Marine Advisory Committee to the Secretary of Commerce, 13.5 years as a member of the Pacific Fisheries Management Council, Director of Coastal Resources Foundation, California Charter Boat Advisor for Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission, panel member of the National Sea Grant Review Panel, member of the Institute for Marine Resources Committee, and a member of the Salmon Advisory Subpanel to the PFMC.

Thanks Roger, you’ve earned all of our respect and gratitude.

The Golden Gate Salmon Association (www.goldengatesalmonassociation.org) is a coalition of salmon advocates that includes commercial and recreational salmon fisherman, businesses, restaurants, a native tribe, environmentalists, elected officials, families and communities that rely on salmon. GGSA’s mission is to protect and restore California’s largest salmon producing habitat comprised of the Central Valley river’s that feed the Bay-Delta ecosystem and the communities that rely on salmon as a long-term, sustainable, commercial, recreational and cultural resource.

Currently, California’s salmon industry is valued at $1.4 billion in economic activity annually and about half that much in economic activity and jobs again in Oregon. The industry employs tens of thousands of people from Santa Barbara to northern Oregon. This is a huge economic bloc made up of commercial fishermen, recreational fishermen (fresh and salt water), fish processors, marinas, coastal communities, equipment manufacturers, the hotel and food industry, tribes, and the salmon fishing industry at large.