Due to declining numbers, The Pacific Fishery Management Council has decided to ban the fishing of Chinook, or king salmon, this season in California and Oregon for the first time in the fishing industry's history.The National Marine Fisheries Service will have to approve the closure for it to go through.
According to the Times, Salmon have dropped from a fresh normal season in 2002 of about 800,000 to about only 60,000 salmon that are expected to spawn this fall.
Mounting concerns of global warming surrounds much of the declining restaurant favorite, in addition to highly contaminated ocean waters, rising sea levels and declining fresh water, such as in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
Some scientists say the cause of the low number of salmon is due to changing ocean conditions that have taken away their food source. The National Marine Fisheries scientists say the winds have caused currents to shift statewide, unsettling nutrients, a possible link to global warming.
Others say it is because of urban run-off from streets, sewage waste, and pesticides from nearby farming operations in the San Joaquin valley, one of the largest farming locations in the state.
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