Monday May 18, 2026
The Tribune —
For the first time in three years, Morro Bay fisherman Mark Tognazzini sailed into the harbor this month with a catch of wild Chinook salmon.
The state reopened the commercial salmon fishery on May 1 after a three-year hiatus, and the fishermen who survived the closure readied their boats and dashed out to sea to catch their share of an icon of the Pacific coast.
Tognazzini said he’s glad to be catching salmon again from the Bonnie Marietta, the boat he built in 1981. The silver fish glinted in the sun as he loaded them onto the dock, ready to be sold at his family’s fish market, Tognazzini’s Dockside Too.
“When it’s flat calm and the fish bite, it’s an amazing experience,” he said. “When the fish don’t bite, and it’s shitty weather, it’s a miserable job.”
From May 1 to 6, fishermen across the state caught about 16,975 salmon, according to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
After a two-day break to allow the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to tally the number of salmon caught, the fishermen launched for another five days of fishing on May 9.