State might curtail the salmon season

Recent winter storms may be pulling California out of its five-year drought, but the effects of all that missed rain are still being felt by the Chinook salmon population. That’s why the upcoming season — which usually opens in April for Bay Area recreational fishers — will likely be more limited than last year’s, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced Wednesday.

Preliminary forecasts released at a public meeting in Santa Rosa showed that the population of Chinook adults from the Sacramento fall run and the Klamath River fall run are lower than usual. The salmon, which reach maturity in two to four years, grew up during the drought and make up a large part of the catch during California’s commercial and recreational seasons. In particular, the forecast for the Klamath River fall-run population was one of the lowest on record, at about 54,000 adult fish.

“With a poor forecast for Klamath fall run and continued concerns over the winter run, California anglers will see reduced Chinook fishing opportunity as compared to last year,” said Brett Kormos, a senior environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, in a news release.

The actual season timing, quotas and catch limits will be finalized in April, after meetings of the Pacific Fishery Management Council and the California Fish and Game Commission.

Last year’s abovenormal ocean temperatures were also a problem for the salmon population, as well as warm river conditions when the salmon were juveniles during the drought. The same problems curtailed last year’s commercial salmon season, which was closed during the month of July and in certain areas of the coast, leading to high prices for the fish.

The fishermen “were shut out of the richest fishing grounds at the best time of the year,” said John McManus of the Golden Gate Salmon Association.