Salmon fishing resumes off California coast for first time since 2022. Here's what that means

Salmon fishing resumes off California coast for first time since 2022 marks the reopening of limited commercial and recreational salmon fishing on the North Coast after a three-year statewide closure. Charter captains report abundant catches out of Bodega Bay, and commercial boats along the coast are again unloading hauls of Chinook salmon, a key West Coast species, for the first time since 2022. However, industry veterans say conditions are far from normal because this year’s season is tightly restricted with staggered openings and closings designed to limit harvest on returning Chinook. Coho salmon remains off limits in California. The state reopened the season in late June following improved rainfall and snowpack in 2023 and 2024, which improved survival for juvenile Chinook migrating from the Sacramento Valley. By July 1, about two-thirds of the allowed commercial harvest of 83,000 fish had already been caught, though the return is unlikely to offset losses from prior closures.