FILE - Sarah Bates hauls in a chinook salmon on the fishing boat Bounty near Bolinas, Calif., Wednesday, July 17, 2019. Federal fishery managers voted Wednesday, April 10, 2024, to cancel all commercial and recreational salmon fishing off the coast of California for the second year in a row, and only the fourth time in state history, because of dwindling stocks.
Like 2023, this year’s decision was made in order to protect California’s waning salmon populations after drought and water diversions resulted in river flows that are too warm and slow for the state’s Chinook salmon to flourish. For the time being the ban affects commercial and recreational ocean fishing. However the council has recommended that the California Fish and Game Commission consider barring river fishing as well. The state agency is expected to vote in the coming weeks.