March 11, 2023 — An extremely low “abundance” of California Chinook salmon stocks and projected low spawning escapements has led to the cancellation of the upcoming commercial and recreational salmon fishing season along most of the Oregon coast.
Thursday’s announcement came in two parts from the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, with both actions canceling fishing seasons between March 15 and May 15, 2023.
According to Fish and Wildlife, the action applies to all commercial ocean troll salmon fishery seasons from Cape Falcon to the Oregon-California Border. Meanwhile, recreational salmon fishing has been canceled in ocean waters between Cape Falcon and Humbug Mountain off the Oregon coast.
Fish and Wildlife’s announcement said the decision arrived in consultation between the National Marine Fisheries Service, Pacific Fishery Management Council and the state of California.
The agencies’ rationale is that “multiple stocks of California Chinook Salmon are at extremely low abundance and are projected to potentially fall below target spawning escapements.”
Just this January, the Biden administration said it would consider adding Chinook salmon in Oregon and Northern California to the endangered or threatened species lists. The consideration came at the behest of nonprofits who petitioned in August 2022 and pointed out that by the 1950s, most spring-run populations of coastal Oregon and Northern California Chinook salmon “were severely depressed or extirpated due to a combination of habitat degradation, commercial fisheries, and negative impacts of artificial propagation through hatcheries.”