Governor Newsom announces major progress in salmon recovery efforts

What you need to know: Governor Newsom announced major progress towards protecting salmon populations and their habitats. Since launching California's first strategy to protect salmon amidst hotter and drier weather in 2024, salmon populations are rebounding and allowing California's commercial and recreational salmon fisheries to reopen for the first time in three years.

SACRAMENTO - Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the release of the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future: Second Progress Report - showcasing extensive progress on the 71 actions to restore salmon populations mapped out in the 2024 Salmon Strategy set by the Governor. In the last two years, the state has fully completed 49% of the actions and partially met or advanced progress on 51% of the actions towards safeguarding salmon populations and their habitats.

Restoring California's salmon is not just an environmental goal - it is part of our commitment to the rivers, tribes, communities, and ecosystems that define this state. Success is rooted in persistence, collaboration, science, and respect for tribal sovereignty. Salmon recovery is a signal of what is possible when we restore nature with urgency and purpose. This is only the beginning.

Governor Gavin Newsom

The progress led by the state, combined with recent wet winters, has created a strong foundation for improving habitat, rebuilding salmon populations, and applying new science to fisheries management. It has also enabled California's commercial and recreational salmon fisheries to reopen for the first time in three years. State agencies are also pioneering new techniques to release fish from hatcheries and better monitor and track salmon.

"Salmon are the lifeblood of tribal cultural heritage and nutrition, the backbone of river ecosystems, and the engine of a multimillion-dollar commercial and recreational fishing sector," said CDFW Director Meghan Hertel. "Rebuilding populations of this iconic species requires collaboration, and this report is proof that working together delivers results."

This work reflects deep collaboration among tribal nations, federal agencies, conservation groups, utilities, and the fishing community. Partners are restoring habitats, removing barriers, modernizing hatcheries, supporting cold-water conservation, and improving monitoring and management systems. This work builds on the progress highlighted in last year's report  of accelerated habitat restoration, adaptive management practices, and new fisheries management solutions.

This year's progress report is accompanied by an interactive online Story Map showcasing accomplishments over the past year.

Major achievements from the past year include:

• Salmon fishing is back: California's commercial ocean salmon season is open for the first time since 2022. Recreational anglers and coastal businesses are also seeing expanded fishing opportunities after closures in 2023 and 2024 and limited access in 2025. Stronger runs, particularly for Sacramento River and Klamath River fall-run Chinook, are supporting these openings. CDFW is implementing new in-season management measures, including vessel-based trip limits combined with area-specific harvest limits for the commercial fishery. Additionally, CDFW is collecting tissue samples in both commercial and recreational fisheries to support tracking of salmon using Parentage-Based Tagging, an exciting new genetics-based monitoring technique that allows flexibility in hatchery release strategies, such as releasing fry earlier in the season to take advantage of cooler water and high-flow conditions.
• Salmon returning to the Klamath Basin: Just over a year after the removal of four Klamath River dams, CDFW, and tribal partners are documenting salmon returning to habitat that had been blocked for more than 100 years. Surveys show widespread spawning in Oregon tributaries above Klamath Lake, including 211 adult Chinook in Jenny Creek and 327 in Shovel Creek. CDFW has invested about $24 million in basin-wide habitat restoration.
• Reintroducing salmon to cold-water habitat on the Yuba River: In Sierra County, CDFW, and partners are using new reintroduction techniques to restore and track spring-run Chinook above two rim dams on the Yuba River. Fertilized eggs from Feather River Hatchery were placed in North Yuba River streambed gravel, and juvenile detection has confirmed successful development. In 2025, 42 adult spring-run Chinook from the Feather River were released upstream, marking the first time this run has been reintroduced above a rim dam in California. Tissue samples collected from the parents of these eggs and the adults released upstream will allow parentage-based tagging to track the success of juvenile salmon as they migrate out to the ocean and return as adults.
• Major floodplain activation in the Yolo Bypass: Department of Water Resources has completed and activated the largest floodplain salmon rearing habitat project in state history at Fremont Weir. The "Big Notch" project includes three gated structures that guide juvenile salmon into the Yolo Bypass when river levels rise, giving them access to rich, slow-moving floodplain habitat critical for growth and survival. The project incorporates decades of scientific research and continues to support agricultural, recreational, and flood-management needs.
• Protecting flows for salmon in the Scott and Shasta rivers: Last year, minimum flows that protect fall-run Chinook, endangered coho, and steelhead were extended in the Scott and Shasta rivers, both important tributaries to the Klamath River. The State Water Resources Control Board is implementing these protections through 2030 under AB 263 (2025).

CDFW developed this year's report in partnership with the California Natural Resources Agency, with support from DWR, the State Water Resources Control Board, the Delta Stewardship Council, the Wildlife Conservation Board, and the State Coastal Conservancy.