Amid the third year in a row that officials have shut down California’s commercial salmon fishing season, a vital fish hatchery for the Chinook salmon will have to reduce its salmon production due to insufficient federal funds — further threatening jobs and the declining fish species, officials and advocates say.
Operated by the state but owned by the federal government, Sacramento County’s Nimbus Fish Hatchery raises about 90% of the Chinook salmon and steelhead trout run in the lower part of the American River.
As the state and federal governments hammer out a new five-year agreement to operate the hatchery, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has allocated $2.5 million from July 2025 through June 2026. In the previous five-year agreement, which expired in June, the bureau allocated $2.45 million for the last year.
But the California Department of Fish and Wildlife argues that rising costs means it needs $3.16 million to maintain the same production levels of salmon and steelhead that it has historically provided. Fish food alone costs more than $500,000 a year, according to the department.
- Steve Gonzalez, department spokesperson, in a statement: “As a result, CDFW will reduce fall-run Chinook salmon smolt production by 50%, from 4.5 million to 2.25 million. Steelhead trout production will also be cut in half, from 430,000 to 215,000.”
Both the department and the Golden State Salmon Association, a nonprofit focused on the conservation of California salmon, also say that the funds fall short of the Bureau’s legal obligation to support salmon runs under federal law.
- Scott Artis, the association’s executive director, in a statement: “The loss of millions of juveniles from Nimbus would be devastating for the state’s struggling salmon industry, as well as the communities that depend on salmon.”
The Nimbus hatchery is one of 21 hatcheries run by the state department, and was constructed to replace the fish runs blocked by the Folsom and Nimbus dams.
CalMatters events: CalMatters, California Forward and 21st Century Alliance are hosting a Governor Candidate Forum on Oct. 23 in Stockton at the California Economic Summit. Top candidates for governor will address pressing economic challenges and opportunities facing California, and field questions on why they are best suited to lead the world’s fourth-largest economy. Register here.
Other Stories You Should Know
Atkins leaves governor race
Former California lawmaker Toni Atkins said Monday she is dropping out of California’s 2026 gubernatorial race, writes CalMatters Jeanne Kuang.
In an email to supporters, Atkins said it was with “a heavy heart” that she decided to end her candidacy.
- Atkins: “Despite the strong support we’ve received and all we’ve achieved, there is simply no viable path forward to victory. Though my campaign is ending, I will keep fighting for California’s future.”
During her time in the Legislature, the San Diego Democrat served as the Senate president pro tempore and Assembly speaker. Atkins ended her bid after failing to poll at higher than single digits, according to a person familiar with the campaign.
Atkins joins Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis as the latest candidate to drop out of the race in recent months. Democrats still in the running include former U.S. Rep. Katie Porter, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. Top Republican candidates include Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco and former Fox News commentator Steve Hilton.
More potential protections for renters
The prospect of a government shutdown this week places renewed focus on Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a bill that would grant legal protections to renters facing eviction if their Social Security benefits are terminated or disrupted “due to the action or inaction of the federal government.”
As CalMatters’ Ryan Sabalow explains, the bill was introduced in response to the mass layoffs of federal workers this spring, which sparked concerns that Republicans would cut Social Security payments.
Though the layoffs ultimately didn’t lead to that, Congress must now pass a spending bill by 11:59 p.m. tonight to avoid a government shutdown. In response, President Donald Trump floated plans to fire more federal workers should a shutdown occur.
Because Social Security is a mandatory program that is excluded from the annual budget process, payments are likely to be unaffected by a shutdown. But it’s unclear how staffing and services at the Social Security Administration could be affected.
And lastly: AI deals; US immigrant population shrinks
California colleges are striking deals that offer free resources on artificial intelligence, while tech companies gain access to millions of users. CalMatters’ Adam Echelman and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on these deals, which are arising amid AI-related cheating concerns, as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.
And check out another video from CalMatters’ Wendy Fry and Robert about a recent Pew Research Center study that found that the country’s immigrant population is declining for the first time in 50 years. Watch it here.
SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.
California Voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Though Newsom inherited most of California’s issues upon being elected governor, these problems remain unchanged or worsened in the years since, and have little to do with Trump.
An Assembly bill awaiting the governor’s decision would ban tribes that don’t own casinos from offering online sweepstakes games in California, locking out rural, less economically advantaged tribes of revenue opportunities, writes Charlie Wright, chairperson of the Kletsel Dehe Wintun Nation.
Other things worth your time:
Newsom signs AI safety law opposed by Meta, Google, OpenAI // The San Francisco Standard
How CA families are bracing for looming Medicaid cuts // Los Angeles Times
Trump renews threat of imposing steep tariffs on films made outside the US // The Guardian
Why CA voters are increasingly launching recall campaigns — and winning // San Francisco Chronicle
Sacramento courthouse immigration stops, some violent, detailed in legal filing // The Sacramento Bee
A city-owned bank? Fresno enters the chat on public banking // Fresnoland
Immigrants decry conditions at former prison, ICE’s largest detention center in CA // Los Angeles Times
