The consequences of dry rivers to salmon and steelhead are obviously bleak. This year, the most severe drought on record in California has dried many coastal streams to a trickle. Most California salmon and steelhead streams have regulations which close them to fishing under low water conditions. This year, even streams like the Russian and American, where releases from dams usually provide sufficient flows to keep them open, are being closed to fishing.
The Sacramento Bee reports
The closures were adopted to protect threatened salmon and steelhead fish from fishing pressure as their habitat has shrunk amid one of the worst droughts in state history. Officials are concerned that anglers are more likely to unintentionally trample the species’ egg nests, or redds, in the gravel riverbeds and more easily kill fish in the process of angling for them.
The closures were adopted to protect threatened salmon and steelhead fish from fishing pressure as their habitat has shrunk amid one of the worst droughts in state history. Officials are concerned that anglers are more likely to unintentionally trample the species’ egg nests, or redds, in the gravel riverbeds and more easily kill fish in the process of angling for them.
