State officials were supposed to take a conservative approach to approving salmon fishing season this year — and they did.

California’s fishing season had been scheduled to open April 1. Instead, as a result of low salmon projections, the season has been canceled.

Salmon provides more to the state than meets the eye.

“People don’t realize how much California’s a salmon state,” said Micheal Milstein, a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration spokesman. “The Sacramento River is one of the big salmon rivers off the West Coast.”

As commercial and sport fishing comes to a pause this year, here’s what to know:

Economic consequences

According to the Golden State Salmon Association, “California’s salmon industry is valued at $1.4 billion in economic activity.

Roger George, a Central Valley fishing guide, says he is hoping to protect salmon by “taking a hit right now in order to have something more positive happen later.”

“Some of the people, the commercial fisherman off the coast, their businesses and their livelihoods, their way of life for those people is being jeopardized,” George said.

Salmon will still make its way to plates across California, but the price tag may be higher as fish are brought in from Oregon, Alaska and Washington, The Mercury News reported.

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