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

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

Salmon Fishery Monitoring Commences as the Recreational Ocean Salmon Season is Underway

Fri, 20 May 2022 09:55:13 GMT

California’s recreational ocean salmon season is underway, and so is the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) ocean salmon monitoring program. Anglers are encouraged to assist CDFW employees or agents who ask about their trip or request to examine the catch, as the information collected is essential to the science needed to support continued ocean salmon fishing opportunities in future years.

Every year, CDFW staff and affiliated contract employees monitor marine docks and launch ramps to observe and sample salmon brought ashore by private recreational boats and charter vessels. The samplers are tasked with observing salmon catch, gathering effort information about the fishing trip and collecting biological samples of tagged salmon.

Each year, approximately 40 million fall-run Chinook salmon are produced at California hatcheries. A minimum of 25 percent of those juvenile salmon are implanted with a Coded Wire Tag (CWT) in their snout prior to release into California’s rivers, bays and estuaries. CWTs are small (less than or equal to 1 millimeter in length) metal tags with a laser-engraved code that corresponds to a specific release group of hatchery salmon. Each code provides biologists with information about that fish, such as the hatchery of origin, brood year, run type, release date, release location and the number of tagged and untagged salmon in that release group. Each salmon containing a CWT is also externally marked with a clipped adipose fin (the small, fleshy fin between the dorsal and caudal fin) to allow for easy visual identification in the field.

When a sampler identifies an adipose fin-clipped salmon on the docks, they will measure the length of the fish and remove the head for recovery of the CWT. The heads are then transported back to the CDFW lab where the CWT will be removed and decoded under a microscope.

Survey participants who have their salmon head collected have the option to receive the CWT information obtained from their fish after it is processed at the lab. On rare occasions, salmon raised in Alaska or British Columbia hatcheries make a long journey to waters off California and are taken in our ocean salmon fishery. On request, the CDFW Ocean Salmon Project will provide anglers with the biological information for their tagged salmon, including the age, hatchery of origin and release information.

Angler participation in the ocean salmon sampling program is critical to fishery managers and biologists tasked with ensuring the future use and conservation of this iconic species. The data are used to make stock abundance forecasts, which inform the development of annual fishing regulations that allow for harvest of more abundant stocks and meet conservation objectives designed to protect stocks of concern. Anglers should also note that 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.

Anglers are advised to check for updated information when planning a salmon fishing trip. Season dates, bag/possession limit information and gear restrictions are posted on CDFW’s ocean salmon webpage and are also available by calling the CDFW ocean salmon regulations hotline at (707) 576-3429. Public notification of any in-season change to conform state regulations to federal regulations is made through the National Marine Fisheries Service ocean salmon hotline at (800) 662-9825.

Pursuant to California Code of Regulations Title 14, section 1.95, ocean salmon sport fishing regulations in state waters automatically conform to federal regulations. Federal regulations for ocean salmon fisheries were published in 87 Federal Register 29690 on May 16, 2022 and were effective as of May 16, 2022.

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Media Contacts:
Grace Easterbrook, CDFW Marine Region, (707) 576-2375
Peter Tira, CDFW Communications, (916) 215-3858

Photos:
CDFW Ocean Salmon Program staff removing a coded wire from Chinook salmon: CDFW.
Coded Wire Tag (CWT) in salmon snout: Lee Blankenship, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Recreational Ocean Salmon Fishery Set to Open April 2

Tue, 15 Mar 2022 10:47:10 GMT

California’s recreational salmon fishery will open April 2 in ocean waters from Point Arena (38° 57’ 30” N. lat) south to the U.S./Mexico border, with a minimum size limit of 24 inches. Openings for north of Point Arena will be determined in mid-April.

Ocean abundance forecasts have increased over the prior year for Sacramento River Fall Chinook and Klamath River Fall Chinook, California’s two primary target stocks. However, fishery managers recommended the Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC) take a more precautionary approach to 2022 ocean salmon seasons. Fisheries have performed better than expected in recent years, raising concerns for sensitive, non-target stocks of salmon, and fewer fish have returned to the rivers to spawn than expected. These concerns, along with the continued threat of drought and the persistent overfished status of Klamath River Fall Chinook since 2018, prompted the PFMC to approve additional fishery restrictions in 2022.

“The 2022 fishing season will be a mix of good and bad news,” said Grace Easterbrook, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). “For recreational anglers wishing to pursue salmon off the Central Coast, there will be ample opportunity if the fish show. However, fishing seasons in the north will be more constrained due to the persistent low abundance of Klamath River Fall Chinook.”

The PFMC approved three fishing season alternatives for public review on Monday at its meeting in San Jose and will continue to accept public input before finalizing the recreational and commercial seasons next month. The alternatives are available on the PFMC website at www.pcouncil.org. A public hearing is scheduled for March 22, where the public is invited to comment on the PFMC’s season proposals. Final season dates will be decided at the April 6-13 meeting in Seattle, Washington. Details on how to attend the public hearing and PFMC meeting, as well as instructions to provide public comment, can also be found on the PFMC website.

Anglers are advised to check for updated information when planning a salmon fishing trip. Season dates, bag/possession limit information and gear restrictions can be found on CDFW’s ocean salmon webpage at www.wildlife.ca.gov/oceansalmon or by calling the Ocean Salmon Regulations Hotline at (707) 576-3429. Public notification of any in-season change to conform state regulations to federal regulations is made through the National Marine Fisheries Service ocean salmon hotline at (800) 662-9825.

Media Contacts:
Grace Easterbrook, CDFW Marine Region, (707) 576-2375
Harry Morse, CDFW Communications, (208) 220-1169