Salmon Fishing Season in California Canceled Due to Grim Reports From Experts

The renowned salmon fishing season in California was canceled as a result of dire reports from experts.

The California commercial fleet and sport anglers have taken a heavy hit as a result of the West Coast ocean fisheries rule-making body's approval of the closure of the commercial and recreational salmon seasons this year.

Grim Reports

However, given the dire reports from state and federal scientists about the state of salmon populations and recent spawning returns, fishery regulators, who were tasked with maintaining sustainable stocks, had little choice.

The Pacific Fisheries Management Council typically concludes its seven-day meeting in March by presenting three alternate fishing season schedules for the states of California, Oregon, and Washington.

These schedules are then the subject of public hearings, and the final season dates are chosen in April.

When it comes time to cast a ceremonial vote on April 7, the council's options for California will all be the same this year: there won't be a season for recreational anglers and there won't be one for the commercial fleet.

Since only 169,767 adult chinook salmon are expected to be offshore in the Sacramento River fall run this year, fishery managers are concerned that any decline in the stock will endanger the population.

This is significantly fewer than the forecasts of 396,458 adult fish made last year and forecasts of more than 800,000 made ten years ago.

King Salmon vs. Bleak Spawning Conditions

The most significant contributor to fish stocks on California's Central and North Coasts are king salmon from the Sacramento River's fall run.

The San Francisco Chronicle claims that salmon are very reliant on the amount of water that is present in their native streams and rivers, particularly when the fish are very young.

The population that is currently in the ocean was born in 2020, at the start of the state's current record-breaking drought, even though the state received a lot of snow and rain this winter.

Canceled Salmon Fishing Season

The Fisheries Management Council was asked to suspend the seasons this year last week by the heads of three significant organizations that promote both commercial and recreational salmon fishing.

The federal fisheries service decided to postpone the start of the salmon season from Cape Falcon to Mexico on Friday.

Some were supposed to begin as soon as next Wednesday.

In most California zones, sport fishing was set to begin on April 1, The Press Democrat reported.

Condition of the Economy and Ecosystem

Over how much water is being given to farmers in the Central Valley, the salmon fishing industry has been embroiled in a political battle in the legislature and the courts for years.

An estimated 80% of the state's water is used for agriculture, leaving the remaining 20% up for grabs between cities and fisheries.

Jared Davis, a charter boat operator for sport fishermen, said that the fishing industry continues to suffer and takes a back seat to the agricultural sector, which typically receives the majority of the water.

According to the local fishermen, the drastically decreased salmon should serve as a wake-up call, CBS Bay Area reported.