After Years of Closures, California’s Salmon Season Returns
This spring, California’s commercial ocean salmon fishery is open for the first time in three years. After closures in 2023, 2024, and 2025 driven by drought, warming rivers, and collapsing fish populations, state and federal managers announced that key salmon runs have improved enough to allow commercial fishing to resume. Recreational anglers also have significantly more access in 2026, following complete closures in 2023 and 2024 and just six open days in 2025.
The numbers behind the decision are encouraging. Scientists project nearly 400,000 adult Sacramento River fall-run Chinook returning this year, more than double last year’s estimate. The Klamath River fall-run forecast is roughly 176,000 adults, also more than double. Managers are being careful: the season comes with trip limits, harvest guidelines, and in-season monitoring that can trigger early closures if needed. But the direction has changed.
What Happened to California’s Salmon
The 2026 California Coast and Ocean Report, released by OPC in March, describes the three-year commercial salmon closure as unprecedented, citing drought, wildfires, and the loss of river habitat as the primary causes. Salmon populations collapsed because of a combination of factors that stressed fish at critical stages of their life cycle.
The closures hit fishing communities hard. Commercial fishermen lost multiple seasons of income. Federal fishery disaster declarations in 2023 and 2024 unlocked $20.6 million in disaster relief for affected fishermen, processors, and charter boat operators, but for many, the losses went beyond what relief funding could cover. And since 2023, the Yurok Tribe has not served any salmon at its Annual Klamath Salmon Festivals – the first time this has happened in the Festival’s 60 years.
The Role of the Klamath Dam Removal
One of the most significant factors in the Klamath River’s salmon recovery is also one of California’s largest recent conservation actions. In 2024, four hydroelectric dams on the Klamath River were removed in what became the largest dam-removal and river-restoration project in United States history.
The dams had blocked salmon from reaching their spawning habitat for more than a century. Within one year of the final dam coming down, California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) scientists reported salmon reappearing throughout the Klamath Basin, including in Oregon tributaries where the fish had not been seen in over 100 years. The Klamath dam removal is one of the most important actions California has taken to support fisheries in recent years.
The 2025 Klamath fall-run return came in at about 51,400 adults, roughly 180 percent of what scientists had projected. That stronger-than-expected return contributed directly to this year’s decision to reopen the fishery.
A Managed, Cautious Reopening
The 2026 season is not a return to business as usual. Commercial fishing is limited to certain days and subject to regional harvest guidelines under a new in-season management framework, used for the first time in California’s commercial salmon fishery this year. If catch reaches the guideline for a given area, that area closes early for the season. This approach, a priority in California’s Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future, is designed to protect rebuilding populations while restoring access to the fishery.
Scientists are also straightforward about ongoing risks. Climate change continues to warm California’s rivers and reduce cold-water flows that salmon depend on. Wet winters in recent years helped juvenile fish survive, but those conditions are not guaranteed. The populations recovering now will face future droughts, wildfires, and warming ocean temperatures. Long-term recovery requires continued investment in habitat, water management, and fisheries science.
Why It Matters
Commercial fishing supports thousands of families in California’s coastal communities and puts locally caught seafood on the plates of millions of Californians each year. When a major fishery closes, the effects extend beyond the boats: processing facilities, restaurants, fishing-supply businesses, and port economies all feel the impact. Salmon closures have also had significant negative impacts on many California Native American tribes, for whom salmon hold tremendous cultural importance not just as a food source, but as a cornerstone of culture and identity.
The 2026 reopening is a sign that the investments California has made in habitat restoration and fisheries management are producing results. It is also a reminder of how closely the health of California’s fisheries is tied to the health of its rivers, its forests, and its broader climate. OPC’s 2026-2030 Strategic Plan identifies climate-ready fisheries management as a priority through the end of the decade, recognizing that stable fisheries require sustained, adaptive management as conditions continue to change.
Learn More
Commercial Fisheries is one of 14 indicators in the 2026 California Coast and Ocean Report, which tracks the health of California’s coast and ocean using science from more than 120 researchers.
Read the full Commercial Fisheries indicator and explore all 14 indicators at opc.ca.gov/report.
Read the Governor’s April 2026 announcement on the salmon season reopening for more on the 2026 season and California’s progress on salmon recovery.
