Due to a significant decline in Chinook salmon numbers, California canceled fishing seasons in 2023 and 2024. Recent estimates show Sacramento River fall-run Chinook populations at about 166,000, significantly lower than previous years. The Pacific Fishery Management Council will decide in April on future fishing limits. Fisheries face economic hardship, leading many fishermen to seek alternative jobs. The decline in the salmon population affects both recreational and commercial fishing communities across the state.
"It's just another bad year that is upon us, and that's unfortunate for everybody," said Scott Artis, executive director of Golden State Salmon Assn., a nonprofit group that represents fishing communities. "Commercial and recreational fishing businesses have been struggling."
"A lot of the guys right now are basically doing land jobs because the fishery has just been devastated," said George Jue, a commercial fisherman at Pillar Point Harbor in Half Moon Bay.
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