The California Department of Fish and Game is warning anglers that taking coho salmon is prohibited in all California ocean fisheries and that anglers should correctly identify each salmon caught before removing it from the water.

Coho salmon are listed as a threatened species with the National Marine Fisheries Service and are protected under the state's Endangered Species Act in all state waters.

"We've seen our early expectations of a strong recreational ocean salmon season come true, but we have also received notification of many coho salmon being caught," said Melodie Palmer-Zwahlen, DFG associate biologist. "The department's biologists believe that these salmon have migrated south from hatcheries in the Columbia River Basin along the Washington and Oregon border. Our wardens have also reported a higher than normal number of violations for possession of coho salmon."

Court fines fall under the jurisdiction of local judges. However, Palmer-Zwahlen said, some have been as much as $500 per violation.

Since the mid-1990s, coho (also known as silver) salmon have been recognized as a vitally important ecological and economic resource in California. In 1994, the Fish and Game Commission and the California Board of Forestry found that coho salmon populations in the state had significantly declined. Timber operations, hydro-power dams, habitat destruction, predation, commercial and sport fishing and unfavorable oceanic conditions have all contributed to the decline of salmon stocks coastwide.

Recreational ocean salmon season opened from southern Humboldt County to Mendocino County in February, then in March from San Mateo County to the California-Mexico border, and in April from Mendocino County to San Mateo County. Daily bag and possession limits were established at two of any species except coho.

Palmer-Zwahlen said anglers can identify coho salmon by several characteristics: The lower jaw is black with white gums at the base of the teeth; the fish has small black spots scattered on its upper back and on the upper lobe of the caudal fin. If anglers rub a fingernail along the rays of the tail it will feel like the edge of a dime.

Palmer-Zwahlen said at least five pink salmon have been landed during this salmon season. The number is significant because a commercial landing of pink salmon, a species that traditionally stays much farther north in the Pacific, has not occurred since 1989. She is unaware of any recreational take of pink salmon in California waters.