PRINCETON-BY-THE-SEA -- Bay Area commercial salmon fisherman got a jolt of good news this week in the form of population data that could bode well for the upcoming season.

The Pacific Fisheries Management Council released estimates for the number of chinook salmon that returned from the Pacific Ocean in the fall to spawn in rivers where they were born or released from hatcheries.

The estimate for the Sacramento River, the top spawning ground in California, was relatively robust, considering the state’s three-year drought.

Nearly 212,000 adult salmon made their way up the river, according to the council, which oversees commercial fishing off the coasts of California, Oregon and Washington.

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