“It comes down to water. If it had rained, we probably wouldn’t be in this predicament.”

Matt Juanes, a salmon fisherman in California, regarding the state’s decision to close the commercial salmon season after not enough fish were able to swim upriver to spawn. This is the second year in a row that the Pacific Fishery Management Council has voted to close the season, harming hundreds of commercial fishers and tribal members who rely on the season for their livelihoods and food supplies. This year’s scarcity of Chinook salmon is tied to California’s last drought, as the fish have a three-year life cycle. (KQED — April 10, 2024)