Commercial fishermen will be allowed to catch salmon off the coast of California this year for the first time since 2022 as regulators plan to end a three-year ban after seeing an increase in the population struggling.
The Pacific Fishery Management Council, the agency created by Congress that manages ocean fisheries on the West Coast, is expected to vote on Sunday. system that will reopen the salmon fishing season under stricter restrictions in California.
A severe decline in Chinook salmon numbers led to commercial fishing bans in 2023, 2024 and 2025, the longest closures in state history.
The state’s fishing industry has been hit hard by the closure of the fleet, which has forced many to leave their boats to find other work. The scheduled resumption of fishing this spring will allow crews to catch limited numbers of fall run Chinook salmon on certain days.
“A limited reopening is a way of life. It gives you less money,” said Vance Staplin, executive director of the nonprofit Golden State Salmon Assn. “They’re not getting enough to sustain their businesses the way they were before this shutdown, by any means.”
Anglers in San Francisco County will be allowed to catch a maximum of 160 Chinook per boat during the few open times in May and August, and 100 on additional days in September. Those fishing in other regions will be given different dates.
The plan also includes limits on the total number of fall-run Chinook salmon that may be caught during the season.
The cessation of profit fishing means a significant loss of income for many in the business. Some managed to get through catching crabs or other types of fishwhile others left the kingdom.
Fisherman Chris Pedersen walks on the dock at Half Moon Bay in 2024. He left California after the salmon fishery closed, saying he could no longer make a living.
(Loren Elliott/Los Angeles Times)
Chris Pedersen, a 66-year-old fisherman, said he could no longer make a living fishing in Half Moon Bay after it closes in 2023, so he moved to Arizona and has been going to the Oregon coast to fish for salmon and tuna.
“Nobody can fish in California,” Pedersen said. “A lot of good fishermen are gone.”
The federal government gave $20.6 million in disaster relief funds to California fishing communities affected by the 2023 closure. But for Pedersen, that amounted to $8,000, which he said was far from covering his losses.
“It was terrible,” Pedersen said. “I put everything I have in my boat, and we can’t fish.”
Some sold their boats. Others who can no longer afford maintenance and expenses have abandoned the boats or towed them for scrapping.
Sarah Bates, who runs a commercial fishing boat out of San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, said the harbor has become “a very sad place” as many have turned to other jobs.
“We’ve lost a lot of people. And given a lot of things in the industry, I’m not sure those people will ever come back,” Bates said. “In the grand scheme of things, I’m very concerned that we’re losing our coastal communities, and we’re losing our ability to bring ocean protein to the people of California.”
Still, he hopes the limited salmon season can give a little boost to fishing businesses.
“It will certainly help, and there are many of us who are very happy to catch fish again,” said Bates. “But this is not the kind of ‘We’re back, everything’s gold again’ kind of season we’d like to see.”
The closure also affected recreational fishermen and those with businesses that operate sport fishing charter boats. After being closed for two years, the recreational sea fishing season was allowed to reopen last year for a few days under strict restrictions.
Biologists say salmon numbers have declined due to a combination of things including dams, blocked breeding grounds, loss of important floodplain habitats and global warming, strengthening the drought and cause warmer temperatures in rivers.
Fish numbers declined significantly during the 2020-22 drought, when the water from the dams was sometimes so warm that killing salmon eggs.
Salmon usually feed in the ocean for about three years and then return to their native streams to spawn. During the past three years, the fish have benefited from a wet winter and the flow of large rivers. The wet winter of 2023 in particular was a big help.
The expected reopening of the fishing season is a good sign that the health of the state’s rivers is improving, said Wade Crowfoot, California’s natural resources secretary. “It shows that nature is resilient and able to bounce back.”
For decades, state-run hatcheries in the Central Valley have raised and released millions of salmon each year to help boost their numbers. Crowfoot said the kingdom ongoing efforts they also help restore important tidal areas and remove barriers that prevent fish migration.
The latest data shows “highly reproducible statistics,” Crowfoot said. “It’s a great shot in the arm for all of us working to restore salmon across the region.”
The fall-run Chinook population, however, remains much smaller than it was in the early 2000s.
Staplin, of the Golden State Salmon Assn., said the long-term fishing closure is a “man-made problem” and blamed Gov. Gavin Newsom and the federal government for not ensuring adequate salmon runs.
“Water is prioritized in agriculture over fish. It’s that simple,” he said.
He pointed out that as the salmon population declines, California’s agriculture industry is planting more fruit trees, replacing other crops that are easy to leave behind when water is scarce.
The state’s almond orchards have expanded dramatically since 2002 and now cover nearly 1.5 million acres, while pistachios have increased from about 100,000 acres in 2002 to more than 600,000 acres today.
“To me, we’re destroying our natural habitat to grow snacks for export,” said Staplin.
He said the state must enact strict laws to protect the flow of rivers so that salmon and other fish can recover.
Some who rely on fishing for a living hope that this year may mark the beginning of a long road to regain what they have lost. Bates, for example, said he thinks California should be able to rebuild a healthy salmon population.
“There is still a lot of work to be done,” he said. “I hope this is the beginning of an increase in fish coming out of the Sacramento River.”
