Saving Seafood

Endangered salmon returned to California’s far north — then the money dried up

April 7, 2026 — Two years ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled a strategy to save declining salmon — spotlighting a historic partnership with the Winnemem Wintu Tribe to reintroduce endangered winter-run Chinook to the vital, cold waters upstream of Lake Shasta in far northern California.

Now, tribe officials say the state is ending its support, potentially causing salmon restoration efforts on the McCloud River to die mid-stream. The tribe is now grappling with the sudden loss of jobs, along with the dimming of hope that the culturally sacred fish will be restored to their ancestral waters.

“It makes me feel betrayed. It makes the tribe feel betrayed,” said Gary Mulcahy, government liaison for the tribe. “It’s like they just gave up.”

State officials say the one-time funds were tied to the state’s drought response and have now been used up.

“The pilot was designed to take urgent action during severe drought conditions while testing key tools and approaches needed for potential long-term reintroduction,” California Department of Fish and Wildlife spokesperson Stephen Gonzalez said in an email.

Read the full article at the Associated Press

ALASKA: Southeast back to an average harvest goal for king salmon after last year’s low

April 6, 2026 — Fishermen in Southeast Alaska will be able to harvest about 70,000 more king salmon this season than last year. The state Department of Fish and Game announced the harvest goal for all gear groups on March 31.

“It’s not, you know, a great catch limit, but it’s a decent catch limit,” said fish biologist Dani Evenson, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Even though it’s sort of an average catch limit, it came as welcome news, because last year was the lowest ever.”

How many king salmon Southeast Alaskans can catch each year is determined by the Pacific Salmon Commission. The group oversees a treaty between the U.S. and Canada that ensures both countries can harvest the fish.

Alaska’s take this year is 207,400 king salmon, also called Chinook. That amount is in line with recent years. . .except last year. Last year’s regional harvest goals plummeted because of lower salmon forecasts in other regions.

Read the full article at KSTK

ALASKA: Southeast Alaska’s treaty-determined Chinook salmon catch limit returns to normal levels

April 6, 2026 — Fishers in Southeast Alaska will be allowed to harvest 205,300 Chinook salmon this year, returning to a normal total after last year’s ultra-low harvest limit.

The Southeast Alaska Chinook harvest total, set in accordance with the U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty, was announced this week by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Last year’s Southeast Chinook catch limit of 133,500 fish was the lowest in any year since the Pacific Salmon Treaty went into effect in 1985, according to the department.

Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, make up the smallest total harvest of Alaska’s five species of salmon. But they are also sold at a premium, usually fetching the highest market prices. Those that swim in Southeast Alaska waters are the subject of management from different jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada, through the Pacific Salmon Treaty. The treaty is necessary because the fish are highly migratory and swim through and spawn in various locations, said Dani Evenson, Pacific Salmon Treaty and Arctic Policy Coordinator for the department’s Division of Commercial Fisheries.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

ALASKA: Warmer waters boost appetite of invasive pike for salmon

March 27, 2026 — Rising temperatures in the waters of Southcentral Alaska’s Deshka River have boosted the appetites of invasive northern pike, to the peril of Chinook and coho salmon and other fish species.

A study led by the University of Alaska Fairbanks researchers, published in February in the journal Biological Invasions, notes that pike of every age class are eating more fish as water temperatures rise, including a 63 percent rise among year-old pike.

Benjamin Rich, who led the study while pursuing a graduate degree at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences, said researchers expect there will be significant warming in the future, and the amount of fish pike consume will increase with it.

The big thing to watch will be the cumulative impacts of climate warming, including hatchery issues and endangered species, said UAF fisheries professor Peter Westley, who worked with Rich and Erik Schoen, of UAF’s International Arctic Research Center, on the study.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

PFMC to host public meeting on salmon management alternatives

March 24, 2026 — Public comment is being sought by the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) on March 24 on three proposed total allowable catch (TAC) alternatives for Chinook and coho salmon during the upcoming Oregon salmon seasons.

Options under consideration for north of Cape Falcon include TACs of 120,000 Chinook and 130,000 coho, 112,500 Chinook and 120,000 coho, and 97,500 Chinook and 90,000 coho, respectively.

The hybrid public meeting is set for 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building in Newport.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

CALIFORNIA: Regulators set to reopen California’s commercial salmon fishery for the first time in three years

March 16, 2026 — Commercial salmon trawlers may be allowed to harvest fish in California for the first time in more than three years, although opportunities will remain limited as regulators work to enable stock recovery on the West Coast.

“Increased forecasts this year, particularly of Klamath and Sacramento River fall Chinook, created opportunities to expand fishing options compared with recent years,” PFMC Executive Director Merrick Burden said in the release. “The Council’s proposals aim to provide meaningful fishing opportunities while ensuring careful management of salmon populations.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

WASHINGTON: NOAA Fisheries denies ESA petition for Washington coast spring-run Chinook salmon

February 20, 2026 — More than two and a half years after a petition was filed, NOAA Fisheries has determined that spring-run Chinook salmon on the Washington coast are not a distinct group from their fall-run counterparts and don’t warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

“NMFS has independently reviewed the best available scientific and commercial information,” NOAA Fisheries stated in a post on the Federal Register. “NMFS concludes that Chinook salmon spring-run populations on the Washington coast do not meet the definition of a species.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Feds deny petition to list two Oregon Chinook salmon populations as endangered

December 10, 2025 — A group of environmental nonprofits filed a petition in 2022 to protect the spring-run Chinook along the Oregon Coast and part of Northern California.

Jeff Miller from the Center for Biological Diversity said spring-run Chinook are more threatened by habitat changes than fish that return in the fall.

“Spring-run are blocked in their migration to where they ideally want to go,” Miller said. “A lot of their former spawning habitat is blocked above major dams.”

Spring-run Chinook return from the ocean much earlier than the fall-run salmon and will stay in deep-water pools until the fall, when they head further upstream to spawn. That means spring-run Chinook often spawn further upstream than fall-run.

Read the full article at KLCC

Chinook Salmon denied consideration to be labeled endangered species

December 9, 2025 –For the second time in seven years the National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have determined that Chinook Salmon do not meet the requirements to warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.

A petition set forth by the Center for Biological Diversity claims that the spring-run Chinook Salmon is threatened, and endangered.

“It’s bad news for anyone who loves salmon, or depends on salmon including the orcas, including tribes, salmon fishers both recreational and commercial, and the public interest suffers,” said Jeff Miller, a Senior Conservation Advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.

Read the full article at KVAL

Anglers Catch Salmon for Science as Tracking Reveals Risks Facing Adult Fall Chinook

December 2, 2025 — Many thousands of fall-run Chinook salmon migrated beneath the Golden Gate Bridge into the upper Sacramento River to spawn this fall. About 100 of the adult fish carried small tags that signaled their location as they went.

A monitoring network tracked the fish, showing their progress online in real time as part of a joint project by scientists at NOAA Fisheries and UC Santa Cruz. They followed adult salmon through the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta into Central Valley Rivers and their tributaries. The scientists want to know what affects salmon survival and how many fish reach their spawning grounds.

“Are the salmon burning too much energy, and what factors affect this?” asked Miles Daniels, who leads the project for NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center. The center operates a research laboratory adjacent to UC Santa Cruz, focusing on salmon. Adult salmon need cold water; they may stop if they hit water that is too warm. Since they do not eat on the way back upriver, delays could deplete the energy they need to complete their migration and spawn.

The research is funded by California’s State Water Board to learn more about how water temperatures influence the salmon that support valuable commercial and recreational fisheries. Officials are interested in whether water can be managed to benefit fish while still supplying Central Valley farms with irrigation water. Irrigation is vital to the production of billions of dollars worth of produce and other agricultural products every year.

Fall Chinook salmon are among today’s most abundant California salmon and have long formed the backbone of West Coast salmon fisheries. However, low numbers of returning salmon have closed California ocean waters to most recreational and all commercial salmon fishing for the last 3 years.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries