Federal fishery managers voted Wednesday to cancel all commercial and recreational salmon fishing off the coast of California for the second year in a row, and only the fourth time in state history, because of dwindling stocks. The unanimous vote by the Pacific Fishery Management Council, the authority responsible for setting Pacific salmon seasons, is a blow to the state fishing industry that supports tens of thousands of jobs and is still reeling from last year's shutdown.
February report by the fishery council found that in 2023 just over 6,100 fall-run Chinook, often known as king salmon, returned to the upper Sacramento River to spawn. The average between 1996 and 2005 was more than 175,000 fish. For the time being the ban affects commercial and recreational ocean fishing. However the council has recommended that the California Fish and Game Commission consider barring river fishing as well. The state agency is expected to vote in the coming weeks.
The governor’s office didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the closure. Much of the salmon caught in the ocean 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. After laying eggs, they die.