Bob Maharry sits inside his fishing boat docked at Pier 45 in San Francisco, Monday, March 20, 2023. This would usually be a busy time of year for Maharry and his crew as salmon fishing season approaches. On April 7, the Pacific Fishery Management Council, the regulatory group that advises federal officials, will take action on what to do about the 2023 season for both commercial and recreational salmon fishing.
Experts fear native California salmon, which make up a significant portion of the Pacific Northwest’s fishing industry, are in a spiral toward extinction. Much of the salmon caught off Oregon originate in California's Klamath and Sacramento rivers. After hatching in freshwater, they spend three years on average maturing in the Pacific, where many are snagged by commercial fishermen, before migrating back to their spawning grounds, where conditions are more ideal to give birth.
Though the closure will deal a blow to the industry that supports tens of thousands of jobs, few are disputing it. Glen Spain, executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, said he believes the ban might need to be in place for two or three years to bring back sustainable stocks after many fish died in 2020, the start of a record-dry period.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the estimated number of adult fall Chinook expected to return to spawn in the Sacramento River this year is less than 170,000, one of the lowest forecasts since the current assessment method began in 2008. Fewer than 104,000 fall Chinook are likely to return to the Klamath River, the second lowest estimate since 1997.restored them to a narrower 1986 standardSome are banking on the unusually wet winter to bring relief.
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