The California Fish and Game Commission has voted to ban salmon fishing in the Sacramento, American, Feather, and Mokelumne rivers. This marks the second consecutive year the commission has imposed such a ban on in-river salmon sport fishing in the Klamath River Basin and Central Valley rivers, according to a news release from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
The prohibition extends to the taking and possession of Chinook salmon in the Sacramento, American, Feather, and Mokelumne rivers and their tributaries. It also includes a ban on fishing fall-run Chinook salmon in the Klamath and Trinity rivers and their tributaries. Additionally, the commission has adopted emergency closures of the spring Chinook salmon sport fishing seasons on the Klamath and Trinity rivers and their tributaries.
The ban is expected to take effect no later than July 1, pending approval by the state Office of Administrative Law. Officials from the Department of Fish and Wildlife stated that this measure aligns with the recommended closure of both commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries off the California coast. The Pacific Fishery Management Council has advised this closure due to the continued low abundance of salmon. Federal fisheries managers have also enacted a complete closure of ocean salmon seasons in California.
Department of Fish and Wildlife officials noted that California’s ocean salmon sport fishing seasons and regulations automatically conform to federal regulations unless the commission decides otherwise. In 2022, fewer than 80,000 Central Valley fall-run Chinook salmon returned to spawn, representing nearly a 40% decline from the previous year and the lowest count since 2009, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
