California Bans Salmon Fishing on Rivers for the Second Consecutive Year
The California Fish and Game Commission has voted unanimously to close in-river salmon sport fishing in the Klamath River Basin and Central Valley rivers for the second consecutive year. This decision comes as part of the Commission’s annual process for adjusting fishing seasons and bag limits to protect salmon populations.
The new regulations will prohibit the take and possession of Chinook salmon in several key rivers, including the Sacramento, American, Feather, and Mokelumne rivers, as well as their tributaries.
The take and possession of fall-run Chinook salmon in the Klamath and Trinity rivers and their tributaries will be banned as well. The Commission has also adopted emergency closures for the spring Chinook salmon sport fishing seasons on the Klamath and Trinity rivers and their tributaries.
These regulations are set to take effect no later than July 1, 2024, pending approval by the state Office of Administrative Law.
The in-river closures are in alignment with the recommended closure of both commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries off the California coast by the Pacific Fishery Management Council. This recommendation was made due to continued low abundance of salmon populations.
Consequently, federal fisheries managers have enacted a full closure of ocean salmon seasons in California, and the state’s ocean salmon sport fishing seasons and regulations will conform to these federal regulations unless the Commission decides otherwise.
