Why are fishery restrictions still needed?
In 2008, approximately 66,200 Sacramento River fall Chinook adults returned to spawn in the Sacramento River Basin. This is the lowest return of Sacramento River fall Chinook on record and is well below the annual conservation objective of 122,000-180,000 adult spawners required by the PFMC’s Salmon Fishery Management Plan. With only 4,000 Sacramento River Fall Chinook age 2 fish (also known as jacks) returning in 2008, fishery scientists forecasted approximately 122,200 Sacramento River fall Chinook adults (ages 3-5) remaining in the ocean during 2009. Thus, even without any additional ocean and in-river fishing in 2009, the ocean abundance of Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon was only a couple hundred fish above their spawner goal. Since Sacramento River fall Chinook salmon contribute significantly (generally 80 to 90 percent) to California’s ocean sport and commercial fisheries, as well as to Oregon’s fisheries south of Cape Falcon (60 to 80 percent), the PFMC, National Marine Fi
