Petaluma, CA (February 8, 2016)— The Golden Gate Salmon Association (GGSA) will host its 3rd Annual Sonoma dinner with special guest winegrower and water conservation advocate Phil Coturri, Friday, March 11. The special event will be held at Ramekins Event Center, 450 W. Spain St. in Sonoma.  Doors open at 5:30pm. It will be a great night featuring hors d’oeuvres, Winery Sixteen 600 wines, cocktails, dinner, silent and open auctions, and the chance to compare fish stories with all the folks we share the water with and raise funds for GGSA and its salmon restoration projects. GGSA will also update attendees on the current state of salmon affairs.

“Each year this event keeps getting better,” said Victor Gonella, founder and treasurer of GGSA, “Phil Coturri is well known for his organic and bio-dynamic winegrowing practices and thusly for his water conservation practices. Conserving and wise water policies are needed to keep the iconic salmon and the salmon industry strong, along with California’s water dependent economy. Mr. Coturri understands this. So, it is our great pleasure to honor him. Additionally, we are grateful to Darius and Sarah Anderson for their ongoing support of GGSA by providing the Ramekins location.”

Phil Coturri is one of California’s foremost organic winegrowers, farming over 800 acres of certified organic vineyards in Sonoma and Napa Valley’s. Coturri has farmed without using chemical fertilizers or pesticides since starting his vineyard management company, Enterprise Vineyards, in 1979. His specialty is hillside vineyards where focuses on soil health, erosion control and water conservation, all crucial to the California salmon population.

“I’m lucky enough to have a view of the bay from almost every property I farm,” says Coturri. “It’s my daily reminder that everything I do in those vineyards ends up in there and affects over 7 million people, not to mention the salmon that swim through every year.”

Tickets are limited and are available by calling 855-251-GGSA (4472) or by visiting www.goldengatesalmonassociation.org. Tickets are $150 per person, and will NOT be sold at the door. Special table sponsor packages are $1,200 and include reserved VIP seating for eight and $100 worth of raffle tickets.

  The Golden Gate Salmon Association (www.goldengatesalmonassociation.org) is a coalition of salmon advocates that includes commercial and recreational salmon fisherman, businesses, restaurants, tribes, 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.