SAN FRANCISCO -- State wildlife regulators have voted to close the California coast to recreational salmon fishing to protect dwindling chinook stocks in the Sacramento River and its tributaries.

The Fish and Game Commission held an emergency telephone meeting Friday to delay the April 5 opening of the state's recreational salmon fishing season. They also closed a stretch of the North Coast that opened for fishing in early March.

Spokeswoman Adrianna Shea says the commission will make a final decision on whether to allow any salmon fishing in state waters this season after federal regulators vote on fishing restrictions in federal waters on April 11.

The Pacific Fishery Management Council is expected to impose the strictest limits ever on West Coast salmon fishing following the steep decline in the number of chinooks returning to spawn in the Sacramento River system.