Publication Date October 28, 2015 | Sacramento Bee

Feds: Winter salmon run nearly extinguished in California drought

United States
Shawn Gallagher of Costa Mesa catches a salmon on the Sacramento River in early September. Photo: Randall Benton
Shawn Gallagher of Costa Mesa catches a salmon on the Sacramento River in early September. Photo: Randall Benton

For the second straight year, huge numbers of juvenile winter-run Chinook salmon appear to have baked to death in the Sacramento River because of California’s drought-stretched water supplies, bringing the endangered species a step closer to extinction...The shrinking winter-run population signals troubles for the state’s $1.4 billion salmon-fishing industry.