Lean times lie ahead for fishermen in California and Oregon. Last week, US regulators decided to cancel the entire salmon season for this year. The long-term prospects for the salmon themselves are unclear.
The salmon stocks are certainly in bad shape right now, especially in California’s Sacramento river, where the autumn run of Chinook salmon is expected to be less than one-tenth the size of recent years. Hydroelectric dams, agricultural pollution and the diversion of river water for irrigation are all likely to have contributed to the crisis by reducing salmon survival in fresh water.
However, nearly everyone agrees that…
