Report: Nearly Half Of California Salmon Species Face Extinction

"Nearly half of the salmon and trout species that live in California will be extinct in 50 years if nothing is done to improve water quality, protect wetlands and stream habitat, and fight climate change, scientists warned Tuesday in a wide-ranging study of native fish.

The loss of so many species would be catastrophic for the ecosystem and have a profound effect on the state’s culture and economy, impacting everything from recreational fishing to people’s eating habits, according to the 106-page report by the nonprofit conservation group California Trout and the Center for Watershed Sciences at UC Davis.

The report concluded that 52 percent of the salmon species and 30 percent of the inland salmonid species (mainly trout) in the state will be gone by 2067 if serious measures aren’t taken to help the fish, which spawn in rivers, streams and lakes and in many cases make long, perilous journeys from the ocean up increasingly degraded waterways."

Peter Fimrite reports for the San Francisco Chronicle May 16, 2017.