Salmon shortage

The Pacific Fishery Management Council will discuss once again banning fishing for salmon off the Northern California Coast at its annual meeting this week (March 7-14). Why? Because, like last year, the number of Chinook salmon is low.

But, while 66,286 salmon returned to the Sacramento River this past fall to spawn, this year the number is expected to be almost double that—122,196—assuming fishing is not allowed, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The council’s goal is that the fall run, when salmon swim from the Pacific Ocean to the Sacramento River to spawn, include between 122,000 and 180,000 fish.

Last year, there was a ban on commercial fishing of Chinook salmon along the Pacific coast, and this year, the National Marine Fisheries Service is expected to render its decision on quotas by May 1.