California Closes Both Commercial And Sport Chinook Salmon Fisheries For 2023
Fishing boats would normally fan out along the California coast to catch Chinook salmon in the spring, but regulators have announced the fishing season will be shut down this year. It’s only the second time in history that the ocean salmon fishery has been closed in California, and the decision reflects a major decline in fish populations after the state’s driest three-year period on record.
People who depend on salmon fishing said the closure will bring economic hardships for many in the industry. “This whole situation is really depressing,” said Sarah Bates, who fishes with a commercial boat and usually sells her catch through a community fishing association in San Francisco. “I think we’re going to lose some boats from both our commercial and recreational fleets,” Bates said. “The public of California is going to have to get used to not having salmon on their barbecue, unless they want it from very far away.”
The Pacific Fishery Management Council, a multistate, quasi-federal body that decides on ocean fishing seasons, adopted proposals to close the fishing season at a meeting last week, and is expected to formally approve the closure at a meeting in early April. The National Marine Fisheries Service also announced that the coastal sport fishing season, which had been scheduled to open in most areas on April 1, will be canceled through May 15.
Fisheries officials have cited the nearly record-low numbers of fall-run Chinook salmon that returned to spawn in the Sacramento River last year. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the estimated number of 3-year-old adults that are likely to return to the Sacramento River this year to spawn is less than 170,000, one of the lowest forecasts in the 15 years that officials have been using their current assessment method.
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https://climatecrocks.com/2023/03/17/california-fisheries-shut-as-salmon-population-crashes/
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