California salmon fishing may face restrictions after decline in fall-run chinook

SACRAMENTO – Recreational and commercial fishing for salmon will likely close or be severely restricted in California this year after state and federal biologists last week released data that shows fewer fish returned to the Sacramento and Klamath Rivers in 2022.

Michael O’Farrell, fish biologist for the National Marine Fisheries Service, said the 2023 projection for Sacramento River fall-run chinook, the driver of West Coast ocean salmon fisheries, is estimated at 169,767 adults. It is one of the lowest forecasts since 2008 when the current assessment method began.

The Klamath River fall-run chinook forecast is 103,793 adults, which is the second lowest forecast since the assessment method began in 1997.

The lowest Sacramento River forecast was 122,000 in 2009, while the lowest Klamath forecast was 54,200 in 2017, according to the data presented at March 1 California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s Salmon Information Meeting.

However, as angler after angler after pointed out in the public comment period at the meeting, these numbers could be an overestimate of the fish that are swimming in the ocean because previous estimates have overestimated the fish returning to the rivers and hatcheries.

The scientists last March projected a spawning escapement in the Sacramento River Basin of 198,694 hatchery and natural area fall-run chinook adults last year. Yet only 61,850 adult hatchery and natural area adult spawners and 6,995 jacks actually returned to the Sacramento River Basin in 2022, according to data presented by Audrey Dean, CDFW environmental scientist.

The CDFW pointed to the recent drought as a key factor in the decline, noting that salmons are more abundant following wetter years.

“This is a decades-long trend, and the past few years of record drought only further stressed our salmon population,” said Charlton H. Bonham, CDFW director.

“Unfortunately, low stock abundance is somewhat expected despite protective and restorative actions California has taken to increase hatchery production, improve release strategies, and increase the availability of critical spawning and rearing habitats.”

On the other hand, anglers blamed the current fish and water management by the state and federal governments for the decline in salmon populations, and the vast majority called for a closure of ocean and river salmon seasons.

Captain James Smith, owner of Berkeley-based California Dawn Sportfishing, called for a closure on the ocean and the Central Valley rivers – and called on state and federal officials to release more water for fish.

“We’re not meeting the escapement goals,” said Smith. “As a captain, I want to spend as much time on the water as I can, but it would be irresponsible if we don’t close the fishery. We don’t have the money that agribusiness has, so we need to ramp up the hatchery system and get more fish back to the rivers.”

Bob Sparre, a salmon fishing guide on the Sacramento River and other rivers for nearly 35 years, said he had recently filed a petition for the listing of the Sacramento River fall-run chinook salmon under the California Endangered Species Act (CESA). The California Fish and Game Commission rejected it, but it is being reworked. He is also planning to petition for a federal listing.

“I have no confidence in the department. It is unbelievable that we have to go through this again,” Sparre said, referring to the total season closures on the Sacramento River fish in 2008 and 2009. “We need to shut down the fishery and redo the models.”

Richard Pool, coordinator of Water4Fish.org and secretary of the Golden State Salmon Association (GSSA), pointed to water management as the key issue in the salmon collapse.

“The problem is not what fishermen and fisheries agencies have done. The problem is that Newsom has handed over water management to agribusiness people and the Bureau of Reclamation. The data is telling us that their water policies are not working. We need to jump on the state water board and governor to get water policies working for fish,” said Pool.

Likewise, Patrick Porgans of Planetary Solutionaries said poor water management is the primary reason for the collapse.

“What is happening here is the mismanagement of the State Water Project and Central Valley Project and an incestuous situation (conflict of interest) between the Department of Water Resources and the state Water Resources Control Board,” said Porgans. “The data shows that in every major drought the State Water Project provided more water in the early years of drought to water contractors than they have historically. They drop down the reservoirs and come back and get the state board to relax the Delta standards, sacrificing the public trust resources.”

Two days after the meeting, the leadership of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations (PCFFA), the Golden Gate Fisherman’s Association (GGFA), and the Northern California Guides and Sportsmen’s Association (NCASA) issued a joint statement calling for an immediate closure of the 2023 salmon season and requesting that Gov. Gavin Newsom, the state Legislature, and state agencies seek government disaster assistance funding for affected ocean and inland commercial operators.

The groups said the low number of fish “allow years of drought, poor water management decisions by Federal and State managers, occasional failure to meet hatchery egg mitigation goals, inaccurate season modeling, and the inability of fisheries managers to meet their own mandated escapement goals.”

James Stone, executive director of NCGASA, said, “We have seen historic low runs in the Sacramento Valley since 2015, with 75% of the last eight years falling short of the required conservation objective of 122,000 spawning adult fall run salmon. Current salmon management policy and poor water management, without proper hatchery mitigation, has got us to this point of full collapse.”

“We need to enact immediate conservation measures and close the fishery in all sectors ocean and inland, coupled with a complete overhaul of our salmon management models and policies that have led to this scenario,” Stone stated.

According to the CDFW, stakeholder input will be taken into consideration when developing three ocean fishery season alternatives during the March 5-10 PFMC meeting (https://www.pcouncil.org).

Final ocean salmon season regulations will be adopted at the PFMC’s April 1-7 meeting. The California Fish and Game Commission will consider and approve inland fishery seasons and regulations this spring, with final decisions in May.

To access materials and information presented at the meeting or to learn more about the salmon season setting process, please visit CDFW’s Salmon Preseason Process web page. General ocean salmon fishing information can be found on CDFW’s Ocean Salmon Project web page or by calling the CDFW Ocean Salmon Hotline at (707) 576-3429.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Calif. salmon fishing could be restricted in 2023 after drop in chinook