Another Tough Year for American River Salmon

It always bums me out when I see a historic salmon fishery like the American River struggling to put together strong runs these days.

The American River in Sacramento, Calif., used to hold runs of 80,000 to 100,000 fish, but today the river is lucky to see 6,000 salmon come through to spawn.

Over the weekend, a popular fish ladder at the Nimbus Hatchery was idle – during the American River Salmon Festival of all days.

According to the Sacramento Bee, the closure was a precautionary measure because of what is expected to be another short salmon run this season.

As mentioned a handful of times on this site, dwindling salmon numbers have forced state and federally mandated closures to the salmon fishing seasons in Northern California.

Hopefully the American River Salmon Festival helps raise awareness about the dwindling salmon population and leads to a rebound in coming years.

To read more about this fishery, be sure to check out our “Destinations” piece on the American River, which is also a popular whitewater rafting destination.