CDFW News

CDFW to Host Public Meeting on California’s Salmon Fisheries

Wed, 28 Jan 2026 16:07:27 GMT

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) invites the public to attend its annual Salmon Information Meeting. The hybrid meeting will feature the outlook for this year’s ocean salmon fisheries, in addition to a review of last year’s salmon fisheries and inland spawner returns.

This year, the meeting will be held in person at the California Natural Resources Agency Auditorium at 715 P St. in Sacramento on Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2026, at 1 p.m., and will also be livestreamed online.

The 2026 Salmon Information Meeting marks the beginning of a two-month public process to help develop annual sport and commercial ocean salmon fishing seasons. The input is also used to inform inland salmon season development later in the spring.

The annual pre-season salmon management process involves collaborative negotiations between west coast states, federal agencies, tribal co-managers, commercial troll representatives, commercial passenger fishing vessel representatives, private recreational anglers, non-governmental organizations and others interested in salmon fishery management and conservation.

These leaders utilize the most current information shared at the Salmon Information Meeting to work together to develop a range of recommended ocean fishing season alternatives at the March 4-9 Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) meeting in Sacramento, Calif. Final season recommendations will be adopted at the PFMC’s April 7-12 meeting in Portland, Ore.

Salmon Information Meeting details, agenda, informational materials and instructions to view the livestream will be published in advance of the event on CDFW’s Ocean Salmon page. Livestream login information and a handout with the meeting presentations will be posted by the morning of Feb. 25. Please see the Ocean Salmon web page for a complete Calendar of Events and contact information regarding the Salmon Preseason Process, including other opportunities for engagement in the ocean salmon season development process.

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Media Contacts:
Emma Keller, CDFW Marine Region, (707) 502-8418
Steve Gonzalez, CDFW Communications, (916) 804-1714

Commercial Dungeness Crab Fishery to Open in Humboldt County

Fri, 23 Jan 2026 15:08:02 GMT

The Director has declared that the last closed area of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery in Humboldt County [southern boundary of the Reading Rock State Marine Protected Areas (41o 17.6' N. latitude) to Cape Mendocino (40° 10.0’ N. latitude)] will open at 12:01 a.m., January 30 to be preceded by a 64-hour gear setting period beginning at 8:01 a.m. on January 27 under a 15% gear reduction. State health agencies determined that Dungeness crab no longer poses a significant human health risk due to domoic acid and recommended lifting the delay in the area. With this announcement, all areas of the commercial Dungeness crab fishery are open.

The Fair Start Provision is triggered when there are commercial season delays along the West Coast for Dungeness crab. This provision prohibits vessels that fished in another area prior to the opening of a delayed area from fishing, landing and transiting in the newly opened area for a period of 30 days. This will apply to the fishing area that is scheduled to open January 30 and vessels subject to Fair Start may not begin fishing in this area until March 1.

For more information, please see the Frequently Asked Questions for the current 2025-26 commercial Dungeness crab season./p>

The latest information on current fishing season closures related to domoic acid will be updated on CDFW’s fishery closure information and health advisories website or by calling CDFW’s Domoic Acid Fishery Closure Information Line at (831) 649-2883.

The latest domoic acid test results for Dungeness crab are posted on the CDPH’s Domoic Acid website (subsection Analytical Data – Crabs).

For the latest consumption warnings, please check for any Dungeness crab health advisory information on the CDPH's shellfish advisories page or by calling the CDPH’s Biotoxin Information Line at (510) 412-4643 or toll-free at (800) 553-4133.

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Media Contacts:
Christy Juhasz, CDFW Marine Region, (707) 292-2480
Steve Gonzalez, CDFW Communications, (916) 804-1714

Ocean Salmon Season Opens This Weekend Along California Coast

Wed, 04 Jun 2025 10:41:26 GMT

Salmon anglers, grab your gear! After two years of closure, the recreational ocean salmon fishery will open statewide for two days on June 7-8, 2025.

While forecasts of ocean abundance for Sacramento and Klamath fall Chinook are lower than average in 2025, anglers may still have a good chance of successfully catching salmon given strong returns of other California Chinook stocks last fall.

“We’re looking forward to hearing reports from anglers returning with salmon this weekend. Hopefully there will be smiles on faces after a day on the water and fresh fish for summer barbeques,” said California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) Program Manager Marci Yaremko.

In response to low overall chinook abundance and the need to minimize take of certain stocks of concern, CDFW will limit total recreational Chinook harvest in 2025 by implementing statewide harvest guidelines in each of the summer and fall seasons and managing the catch limits in-season. A statewide 7,000 Chinook salmon summer harvest guideline is in place for a series of potential short seasons scheduled between June and August. If the harvest guideline is not reached in the June 7-8 opening weekend, the summer season will reopen statewide July 5-6, July 31-August 3, and August 25-31, or until the harvest guideline is reached.

The fall fishery will reopen in some regions under a separate 7,500 Chinook salmon harvest guideline. The San Francisco Subarea (Point Reyes, 37°59'44'' N Latitude, to Pigeon Point, 37°11' N Latitude) is scheduled to open September 4-7, September 29-30, October 1-5, and October 27-31. The Monterey Subarea (Pigeon Point, 37°11' N Latitude, to Point Sur, 36°18' N Latitude) is scheduled to open September 4-7, and September 29-30. The scheduled fall season dates will close once the 7,500 Chinook fall harvest guideline is reached.

Given the 2-year ocean salmon fishery closure and the short duration of this fishing period, angler participation is expected to be high. Anglers should prepare for crowds and long wait times at public launch ramps and marinas and consider travel, parking, and launch ramp conditions when finalizing plans. CDFW reminds anglers to prepare their gear and test equipment ahead of time, and to check marine forecasts, ocean conditions, and regulations before hitting the water.

CDFW appreciates anglers’ cooperation with dockside monitoring activities over the 2-day season. Field staff will meet vessels returning to launch and dock sites to collect catch and effort information and coded wire tag data that is essential to managing California’s salmon fisheries. CDFW will be collecting heads from salmon with a clipped adipose fin, which contain coded wire tags that have information about the salmon’s hatchery of origin, release strategy, brood year, and run type. Anglers should be aware they are required by law to relinquish the head of any adipose fin-clipped salmon upon request by a CDFW representative, per California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 1.73.

The minimum size limit is 20 inches total length. The daily bag limit is two Chinook salmon per day. No more than two daily bag limits may be possessed when on land. On a vessel in ocean waters, no person shall possess or bring ashore more than one daily bag limit. All salmon must be brought ashore prior to the end of any open season. Retention of coho (silver salmon) is prohibited in all ocean fisheries off California; information on how to distinguish coho from Chinook salmon. While salmon fishing north of Point Conception, anglers are required to use barbless hooks, and once salmon are aboard, barbed hooks may not be used to target other species. Anglers are encouraged to visit the Ocean Salmon Project’s page for details and complete regulatory information, or call the Ocean Salmon Regulations Hotline at (800)-662-9825. Federal Regulations for ocean salmon fisheries were published in 90 Federal Register 20810 on May 16, 2025, and went into effect May 16, 2025.

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Media Contacts:
Steve Gonzalez, CDFW Communications, (916) 804-1714
Emma Keller, CDFW Ocean Salmon Project, (707) 502-8418

Vamos a Pescar Grant Applications Now Available

Mon, 28 Oct 2024 11:20:48 GMT

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is now accepting applications for the Vamos A Pescar community grant program. These grants are designed for fishing programs, classes and activities committed to educating and engaging diverse, multi-generational, bi/multi-lingual participants new to fishing, boating and aquatic stewardship in California.

The Vamos A Pescar grant program is part of CDFW’s ongoing angler recruitment, retention and reactivation (R3) efforts to decrease barriers to participation and increase awareness and support for conservation activities across the state, like fishing.

To apply for funding, the programs must be:

Inclusive. Events must be open to families of all races and ethnicities with Spanish-English bilingual instruction, materials and outreach.
Family focused. Participation across multiple generations and genders.
Multiple opportunities. Focus should be placed on providing multiple fishing opportunities to the same participants.
Stewardship. Programs should promote good stewardship toward California’s aquatic resources and include information on angler funded conservation projects, like those paid for by the Sport Fish Restoration Act.
Measurable goals. Programs must include ways to measure goals and outcomes and incorporate lessons learned.
An official 501(c)(3) organization.

Vamos A Pescar is part of the Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation’s (RBFF) Hispanic initiative supported by the George H. W. Bush Vamos A Pescar Education Fund. To further the reach and facilitate partnerships at the local level, funds are provided for state agencies to match and sub-grant to local 501(c)(3) organizations. With the help of donations from companies and organizations, this fund has continued to grow and expand nationally to keep future generations educated about the joys of fishing and boating and the importance of conservation. CDFW utilizes funding from the Sport Fish Restoration Act and its angler-generated dollars to match RBFF’s contribution to California organizations chosen to carry out the mission and work of the Vamos A Pescar Grant Program.

Interested organizations should review the RBFF George H. W. Bush Vamos A Pescar Grant Guidelines (PDF) and the CDFW grant agreement template (PDF) (left blank intentionally). To apply, organizations meeting the eligibility criteria can submit a grant proposal application following the format and guidelines provided in the CDFW grant application document (PDF) and a completed RBFF George H. W. Bush Vamos A Pescar application form (PDF). All grant proposal application documents should be sent via email to R3StatewideProgram@wildlife.ca.gov no later than 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 1, 2024.

The California proposal application documents will be ranked by CDFW and submitted to RBFF for national review by its advisory board. The advisory board will choose final grant recipients by the end of January 2025 and CDFW will notify California recipients shortly after. Final decisions on the program are subject to the availability of state matching funds.

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Media Contacts:
Taylor Williams, CDFW R3 Manager (916) 203-1362
Jen Benedet, CDFW Office of Comms., Education and Outreach (916) 903-9270

Klamath River Fishery Plan Calls for Wild, Self-Sustaining Salmon, Steelhead Populations in Newly Undammed River

Thu, 29 Aug 2024 11:55:45 GMT

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has released the “Klamath River Anadromous Fishery Reintroduction and Restoration Monitoring Plan (PDF),” a 60-page blueprint to guide the reintroduction and monitoring of Chinook salmon, coho salmon, steelhead and Pacific lamprey in a newly undammed Klamath River.

The plan’s principal goal is to reestablish viable, wild, self-sustaining populations for species conservation, ecological benefits and to enhance Tribal, commercial and recreational fisheries.

The primary strategy is to allow these ocean-going fish species to naturally recolonize some 420 miles of newly accessible spawning and rearing habitat. The last two remaining barriers – cofferdams at the former Iron Gate and Copco No. 1 dam footprints – were breached this week, returning the Klamath River to a free-flowing state in California for the first time in a century.

“The largest dam removal project in American history is part of something even bigger as we work with countless partners to achieve the largest river restoration project in American history, which is a super exciting space to be in,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham. “Nature teaches us time and time again just how resilient she is. If we can mostly stay out of the way, these fish populations will heal themselves, sustain themselves and help heal and sustain the communities that cherish them. There is no bigger game-changer underway for Pacific salmon in the West than this effort.”

The Klamath River anadromous fishery plan was prepared in collaboration with Native American Tribes, the State of Oregon and federal partners, including NOAA Fisheries and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Beyond the newly available habitat within the main stem of the Klamath River, anadromous fish species also have access to several important tributaries upstream of the Iron Gate Dam footprint that historically supported these fish through several critical life stages and will provide reliable sources of cool water in warmer months and in warming climate conditions. These tributaries include Scotch, Camp, Jenny, Shovel and Fall creeks.

Fall Creek will play a significant role in the restoration of the Klamath River. The creek is home to the newly constructed, $35 million Fall Creek Fish Hatchery intended to jump-start salmon populations in the upper basin.

The Fall Creek Fish Hatchery replaces CDFW’s Iron Gate Fish Hatchery. It was built by PacifiCorp, the former owner and operator of the hydroelectric facilities on the Klamath River. PacifiCorp is slated to fund hatchery operations for the next eight years. Annual production goals consist of 3.25 million fall-run Chinook salmon and 75,000 coho salmon.

The Klamath River Anadromous Fishery Reintroduction and Restoration Monitoring Plan calls for an “adaptive management approach,” which means future management decisions and strategies can change based on extensive monitoring detailed in the plan and coordination with Klamath Basin fisheries partners.

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Media Contacts:
Michael Harris, CDFW Northern Region, (530) 410-5334
Peter Tira, CDFW Communications, (916) 215-3858