Why Ca should hoped against the background of stopping salmon fishing

By Chuck Bonham, special for Calmatters

This comment was originally published by CalmattersS Register about their ballots.

This week’s public federal process defined there There is no commercial fishing on salmon off the California coast for the third year in a row. This is a gloomy stage for our country.

As we see some relaxation for recreation ocean fishing, we are on the low water marking. With such a little available Pisces, we know that this will not be enough to meet the search for our country. These are difficult news in difficult times.

Thirty years ago, the idea we will implement – we are still discussing – these restrictions would be unthinkable. Then millions of salmon floated through the California rivers every year. It was an abundant, thriving species.

But last year, the number of salmon for adults in the Sacramento Index, a critical measure of the salmon population on the Sacramento River and an indicator of the overall health of the California salmon, shrunk to Approximately 100,000 fishS This is a small part of the previous Salmon power.

The reasons for the decline are numerous and complex. Decades of heavy droughtClimate interruption, water management challenges and habitat loss threaten the future of salmon in California. The loss of salmon will be deep in California.

Salmon is the basis of a multi -billion -dollar fishing economy that creates jobs throughout the country. They support thriving forests, rivers and floodplains and serve as one of the most popular seafood elections across the country. Salmon provides vital support for numerous California tribes. The entertainment fishing excursions are at the heart of family legend and erudition.

For salmon lovers, these are dark times among us. But I see the flashes of hope.

Two weeks ago the California Department of Fish and Wildlife revealed progress Of California “Salmon strategy for a hot, drier future“It was an update of Gavard Gavin Newo strategy released last yearwhich have outlined dozens of key elements of the actions that the state must take in order to maintain better populations of healthy salmon.

In the last year alone, state fish and wildlife and its affiliate agencies have critically ahead of nearly 70% of the objects defined by the Newsom government. Another 26% are already ready.

California finished Removing outdated and outdated dams on the Klamath RiverAllowing a free -flowing river and access to cold water habitats, blocked for more than a century.

California’s initiative to quickly track the approval of salmon restoration projects has led to optimization of more than 60 important projects to support salmon populations over the last year.

Fish and wildlife have also worked with the State Council for Water Resources Control to Develop Flow Recommendations in Drops, such as the Scott and Shasta rivers and mills and deer, ensuring that salmon populations have enough cold water to survive during dry periods.

Investments to expand and modernize the hatching of the country’s fish, ensuring that California supports the production of a sustainable salmon population, has increased the production of autumn execution by state hatchers in the Central Valley by over 9.7 million fish.

The state salmon strategy is designed for long -term salmon maintenance. But we already see early benefits, some of which have even surprised fish and wildlife staff. Ten days after the Klamath Final Dam has come down, state scientists Spotted salmon swimming north of the Oregon damsS

Initially, experts thought it would take 10 years.

Data shows that while salmon numbers from 2024 are down, California has seen that the largest number of jacks (2-year-old fish) are returning to the Central Valley of 2019. Jacques are an important predictor of the number of salmon for adults who will return to spawn the next year.

Lagunitas Creek has a 60% increase in spawning of endangered coho salmon. In the County Mendocino, Coho adult returns has almost been amazed Their 15-year average.

To be clear, these victories are only the beginning. The road to the revival of the California salmon will be long. But these successes give me hope and desire to continue to fight for salmon.

This article was Originally Published on CalMatters and was reissued under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Noderivatives License.