How Will Governor’s Salmon Plan Benefit Marin County Restoration Efforts?

Despite plenty of controversial decisions that have already put California’s already sturggling salmon in further peril, late last month Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a plan to help preserve the state’s anadromous fish.

With Marin County’s coho salmon in endangered status and several projects having helped preserve the fish, here’s the Marin Independent Journal with how the Newsom plan could impact the North Bay region:

The six goals are removing barriers and modernizing infrastructure; restoring and expanding habitat suited for spawning and rearing; protecting water flows and quality at times essential to salmon; modernizing salmon hatcheries; transforming technology and management systems for climate adaptability; and strengthening partnerships with local groups.

Local experts in Marin think the emphasis on technology, hatcheries and removing barriers to fish in particular could have a significant impact on the county’s salmon population. Still, some noted that the strategy largely focuses on chinook salmon and not coho salmon, which are much more prevalent in the area.

“It makes sense because that’s the commercial species that we have here in California so even though locally we have endangered coho salmon and threatened steelhead, chinook salmon have a much larger economic importance to California,” said Michael Reichmuth, a fisheries biologist with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area.