Officials vote to cancel California salmon fishing season
West Coast fishery managers have officially recommended the cancellation of California salmon fishing season this year. Thursday, the Pacific Fishery Management Council announced its decision to close commercial and recreational salmon fishing in California and most of Oregon until next spring to conserve the dwindling Chinook salmon population.
While this fishing ban doesn’t exactly come as a surprise — in early March, the council announced that it would most likely recommend the ban — it’s a huge blow to local fishers.
“This one is going to hurt,” said Sarah Bates, the captain of a San Francisco fishing boat. “I’m not exactly sure what to do yet.”
Salmon is Bates’ main fishery, so the news is devastating, although not entirely unexpected.
“Obviously now we’re out of this drought, but we were in a severe drought for years,” she said. “Water policy decisions have not taken into account the needs of salmon during the drought. So it’s not surprising, unfortunately.”
Climate change-induced heat and drought, as well as dam construction that cut salmon off from certain waterways, are to blame for the declining Chinook (also known as king salmon) population, according to the New York Times. This is only the second time salmon fishing season has ever been canceled in California, reported CNN.
“The forecasts for Chinook returning to California rivers this year are near record lows,” said Pacific Fishery Management Council Chair Marc Gorelnik in a news release. “The poor conditions in the freshwater environment that contributed to these low forecasted returns are unfortunately not something that the Council can, or has authority to, control.”
For consumers, this cancellation means no local wild salmon in California grocery stores or on restaurant menus this year, as well as higher prices for nonlocal salmon.
“I’m heartbroken that we won’t have any local king salmon this summer,” Delfina chef and co-owner Craig Stoll said via email. “I literally look forward to it all year. … I worry about the future for our local salmon population… hoping politicians with responsible waterway management policies prevail.”
Eleza Jaeger, who runs a Bay Area fishing charter company called Gatherer Outfitters, said that salmon fishing is usually a third of her business. She plans to shift her company’s focus to California halibut, which she said is having a great season this year.
“It’s definitely a big loss,” she said. “But fishermen must be optimistic to survive … just every year we’re facing more restrictions and limitations. And, you know, it takes resilience and reimagining.”
The Pacific Fishery Management Council’s recommendations will be forwarded to federal agency NOAA Fisheries by May 16, which is expected to implement the closure, according to the Washington Post.
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