The Pacific Fishery Management Council on Monday tentatively voted to close all waters south of the California-Oregon border to salmon fishing for the second consecutive year to protect the ailing population of Sacramento River chinook salmon.
The council will take a final vote on Wednesday but is expected to uphold Monday's decision.
Scientists predict that only 122,000 salmon will return to the Sacramento to spawn this fall, twice as many as last year's record-low 66,000 fish but still a fraction of the 800,000 that have returned in previous years.
Monday's vote allows for very limited commercial and recreational salmon fishing between Eureka, Calif., and northern Oregon. Washington's salmon fishery is unaffected by the decision and will open as scheduled this spring.
