What law enforcement efforts are used to protect salmon?
Law enforcement efforts related to salmon in California’s anadromous rivers (inland waters accessible to salmon migrating from the ocean) peak in the spring and in the fall. In the late summer and fall, adult salmon are migrating into California’s anadromous waters to reproduce and continue their life cycle. These migrating fish represent the breeding stock and future of the salmon fishery. California’s game wardens must focus much patrol time to prevent poachers from reducing their numbers. In the spring, juvenile salmon have hatched from the eggs laid by their parents in the prior fall, and are attempting to swim back out to the ocean. They are targeted by poachers to use as bait to catch other fish such as striped bass and sturgeon. Use of salmon for bait is illegal.
