Commercial salmon fishing season will be closed again, a third year in a row

In an unprecedented move, California will prohibit commercial salmon fishing for a third year in a row. The Pacific Fishery Management Council voted on April 15 to close the season because of the continuing collapse of Chinook salmon populations.

The number of Chinook spawning in the Klamath River continues to fall behind pre-season forecasts, with only an estimated 67,100 preseason forecast for 2025—that’s down from 342,200 Chinook returning in 2015, ten years before. Development in California has already cost Salmon, "nearly 90 percent of the extant wetlands," they inhabited, and the continuing diversion of water for agriculture further risks the success of the already ESA-listed species.

Mike Aughney from the Golden State Salmon Association urged cutting back agricultural water diversions during peak Chinook migration times to give fry and smolts a better chance of reaching the ocean. 

USFWS photo/Dan Cox

While the California’s State Water Resources Control Board has readopted emergency minimum instream flows for the Scott and Shasta River watersheds, these levels are based on baseline conditions, and not necessarily the instream flows necessary for recovery. 

Salmon are a keystone species in California’s river and coastal ecosystems. They carry nutrients upstream, which support productive agriculture, and predators disperse these nutrients to support forests.

Sportfishing of Chinook in California will be allowed for short windows of time, with a 7,000 fish quota for the entire state. 

Despite these challenges, the recent removal of four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River offers hope for salmon recovery. The Klamath Dam removal project has reopened over 400 miles of historic spawning habitat, improved water quality, and restored natural sediment transport processes. Early observations indicate that salmon are already returning to previously inaccessible areas, signaling a positive trajectory for the river’s ecological restoration. While full recovery will take time, dam removal represents a critical step toward revitalizing the Klamath River’s salmon populations and the communities that depend on them.