California bans salmon fishing for the season in Sacramento-area rivers and Klamath basin

The California Fish and Game Commission has voted to ban salmon fishing in the Sacramento, American, Feather and Mokelumne rivers.

This is the second consecutive year the commission has voted to ban 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 fishing ban prohibits the taking and possession of Chinook salmon in the Sacramento, American, Feather and Mokelumne rivers and their tributaries, along with the ban of fishing fall-run Chinook salmon in the Klamath and Trinity rivers and their tributaries.

The commission’s decision to ban salmon fishing again also includes the adoption of emergency closures of the spring Chinook salmon sport fishing seasons on the Klamath and Trinity rivers and their tributaries.

The salmon fishing ban is expected to take effect no later than July 1, following approval by the state Office of Administrative Law.

Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said the salmon fishing ban aligns with the recommended closure of commercial and recreational ocean salmon fisheries off the California coast.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended the closure because of continued low abundance of salmon. Federal fisheries managers have enacted a full closure of ocean salmon seasons in California.

Department of Fish and Wildlife officials said California’s ocean salmon sport fishing seasons and regulations automatically conform to federal regulations unless the commission decides otherwise.

Fewer than 80,000 Central Valley fall-run Chinook salmon returned to spawn in 2022, which is a nearly 40% decline from the previous year, and the lowest since 2009, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.

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