Thursday February 29, 2024
Daily Kos —
The forecasted adult Sacramento Valley fall-run Chinook salmon population number is only 213,622, according to page 59 of a presentation to be done in Oregon by the state and federal governments today.
This foreshadows the California salmon information webinar coordinated by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife on Friday, March1. The presentation power point is available at: https://www.dfw.state.or.us/mrp/salmon/docs/OSIG_Combined_Presentations_2024.pdf
The original 2023 projection for Sacramento River fall Chinook, the most predominant stock harvested in California’s fisheries, was estimated at 169,767 adults, one of the lowest forecasts since 2008 when the current assessment method began.
The 213,622 number is surprisingly low, considering that all ocean recreational and commercial salmon fishing in the ocean and all recreational salmon fishing in California rivers was closed last year. Imagine how low the 2024 projection would be if the recreational and commercial fishermen hadn’t pressured the federal and state governments to close salmon fishing in 2023!