California river salmon fishing season closed for second year due to dramatic declines

July 16 has been, for many years, the day that Chinook salmon fishing opens to recreational anglers on the Sacramento, American, Feather and Mokelumne rivers.

One of the most popular salmon fishing spots is the mouth of the American River at Discovery Park in Sacramento, where dozens of boats and bank anglers line up in the predawn darkness hoping for the chance to hook a beautiful, ocean-bright salmon.

But this year, just like last year, the rivers will be closed to salmon fishing. On May 15, the California Fish and Game Commission unanimously adopted emergency regulations for Chinook salmon fishing closures in the Central Valley and Klamath River Basins, due to dramatic population declines.

As part of its annual process for adjusting seasons and bag limits, the Commission voted to:

• Prohibit the take and possession of Chinook salmon in the Sacramento, American, Feather and Mokelumne rivers and their tributaries.

• Prohibit the take and possession of fall-run Chinook salmon in the Klamath and Trinity rivers and their tributaries.

• Adopt emergency closures of the spring Chinook salmon sport fishing seasons on the Klamath and Trinity rivers and their tributaries.

The regulations are expected to take effect no later than July 1, 2024, following approval by the state Office of Administrative Law.

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“The in-river closures align with the recommended closure of both commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries off the California coast by the Pacific Fishery Management Council due to continued low abundance,” according to a CDFW announcement. “Federal fisheries managers have since enacted a full closure of ocean salmon seasons in California. California’s ocean salmon sport fishing seasons and regulations automatically conform to federal regulations unless the Commission acts otherwise.”

A staff summary for the Commission meeting cited numerous causes for the plummeting salmon numbers, including ongoing issues associated with “drought and climate disruption” along with “severe wildfires and associated impacts to spawning and rearing habitat, harmful algal blooms, and ocean forage shifts.”

However, Scott Artis, Executive Director of the Golden State Salmon Association (GSSA), noted that the CDFW failed to mention the top cause behind the collapse — a “horrendous water policy.”

“We can’t begin to solve the salmon crisis plaguing all of California’s marine and inland waters, the entire commercial and recreational fishing industry, and many coastal and river towns and communities if the Governor simply fails to admit the main cause, which is a horrendous water policy that green lights unsustainable water diversions out of our salmon rivers,” said Artis in a statement.

Artis said the latest closure follows the complete 2023 salmon fishing season shutdown that devastated the commercial and recreational salmon industry — and marks the fourth year in California’s history that salmon fishing has been closed. Salmon fishing was previously closed in 2008 and 2009.

Fishery managers forecasted low adult Sacramento Valley fall-run Chinook salmon abundance in the ocean off the West Coast in February. Like 2023, this year’s decision was made due to low ocean abundance estimates of adult and two-year-old jack salmon that survived the hostile conditions they have encountered in Central Valley rivers in recent years, Artis said.

The February 2024 ocean abundance forecast was only 213,600 Sacramento River fall chinook adults and 180,700 Klamath River fall chinook adults.

“The 2023 and 2024 salmon shutdowns did not come out of the blue. In the fall of 2020 and the spring of 2021, baby salmon that are returning this year faced multiple threats,” said Artis.

First, the state failed to require adequate temperature protection for salmon eggs. “As a result, lethal hot water, caused by excessive and unsustainable agricultural water deliveries earlier in the year to largely support export nut crops, killed incubating salmon eggs,” Artis stated.

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“Second, Governor Newsom has shut down the State Water Board effort to update Bay-Delta standards, including river flow standards to protect out-migrating salmon. As a result, baby salmon did not survive their journey out of the Central Valley to the ocean,” he said.

“And finally, in 2021, Governor Newsom waived the already poor salmon standards that were in place in order to allow additional pumping. As a result, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife concluded that 99.7% of winter-run Chinook salmon eggs and juveniles were killed before they reached the Delta,” added Artis.

“Families, businesses, salmon and our rivers and estuaries are hurting,” concluded Artis. “Instead of developing solutions that can work for everyone and the environment, the Governor is pushing forward with the Delta Tunnel and Sites Reservoir projects. These projects are the ultimate fisherman’s nightmare. Because why bother with pesky things like sustainable ecosystems when you can just reduce river flows to a trickle and heat the water enough to kill salmon eggs? Here’s to the Governor, turning California’s rivers into ghost towns for salmon and fishermen and women alike.”

California’s Sacramento-San Joaquin River system supports four distinct Chinook salmon runs: fall, late fall, winter and spring. The fall run is the only run that has been open to both recreational and commercial fishing on the ocean in recent decades.

Sacramento River spring and winter-run Chinook salmon, protected under the state and federal Endangered Species Acts, continue their march towards extinction while fishing for them has been closed for decades.

The spawning escapement of Sacramento River Spring Chinooks (SRSC) in 2023 totaled 1,479 fish (jacks and adults), with an estimated return of 106 to upper Sacramento River tributaries and the remaining 1,391 fish returning to the Feather River Hatchery. The return to Butte Creek of just 100 fish was the lowest ever.

Spawner escapement of endangered Sacramento River Winter Chinook (SRWC) in 2023 was estimated to be only 2,447 adults and 54 jacks.

While the rivers and ocean are closed to fishing this year, salmon enthusiasts interested in hooking these prized fish can target landlocked Chinooks at Shasta, Trinity, Oroville, Folsom, Berryessa, Don Pedro, McClure and Pine Flat reservoirs.

Most of the fishing is done by boaters trolling with spoons, spinners, hoochies and plugs, but salmon are also landed by shore anglers tossing out minnows under bobbers, PowerBait and lures at these lakes in the fall and winter.

Lake Berryessa has produced some top-notch fishing for kings in recent weeks.

“I had Joe and Mark out on Berryessa for some more epic king salmon fishing,” reported Nate Kelsch of Big Nate’s Guide Service on May 21. “My crew got to experience an excellent bite window resulting in two limits by 10 a.m. with some donkeys (big fish) in the mix, we threw back a few dinks, and we lost a lot, as these fish are fighting like crazy. There were a lot of boats on the water so we had to change up techniques to keep the fish coming over the rail.”

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: California river salmon fishing season closed due to dramatic declines