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A U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist handles salmon at the Coleman National Fish Hatchery, near Shasta Lake, in June 2015. <\/p>\n
Randall Benton<\/p>\n
Sacramento Bee file<\/p>\n
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service released more than 6.2 million juvenile Chinook salmon from the Coleman Hatchery into the Sacramento River this week, even as the river faces unusual March heat and low water flows.<\/p>\n
The announcement of the release came during a spell of extreme heat throughout California, prompting urgent calls from conservationists who warn the young fall\u2011run Chinook could die in the river\u2019s warm, low\u2011flow conditions before making their way to the ocean, unless the Bureau of Reclamation releases more water from Shasta Dam.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo sooner do we start to gain a little ground back in rebuilding our salmon runs, the federal Bureau of Reclamation is destroying them again,\u201d Vance Staplin, executive director of the Golden State Salmon Association said in an email. \u201cThese fish are in big trouble if the Bureau doesn\u2019t relent very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Above\u2011average reservoirs, thin river<\/p>\n
California has gone from what appeared to be a decently wet winter to an extremely warm spring. While reservoirs throughout the state are experiencing above-average storage levels, the snowpack is expected to be near record low by April 1, when it is typically at its peak.<\/p>\n
This has created a situation that Carson Jeffres, a senior researcher at UC Davis\u2019 Center for Watershed Sciences, described as water managers \u201cholding on to their water\u201d as they fear the dry season ahead. Lake Shasta\u2019s storage level stood at 115% of average as of Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cHatchery fish are less genetically fit in the first place, so they don\u2019t do very well. The survivorship is less than 50%, and it goes down from there,\u201d Ken Bouley, executive director at the Turtle Island Restoration Network said, referring to studies<\/a> showing that many hatchery-reared salmon have substantially lower survival and reproductive success than wild\u2011origin fish.<\/p>\n Over 6.2 juvenile fall-run Chinook salmon were released into Battle Creek. From Battle Creek, the fish make their way down the Sacramento River and eventually out to the Pacific Ocean, before returning as adults to spawn.<\/p>\n As of Wednesday afternoon, water flows at Wilkins Slough stood at 7,780 cubic feet per second, about 38% below the roughly 10,700 cubic feet per second that a 2021 study<\/a> linked to much higher juvenile salmon survival in the Sacramento River. According to the study, the survival rose from about 19% at flows below that threshold of 10,700 to about 51% once flows were between 10,700 and 22,900 cubic feet per second.<\/p>\n \u201cThese little salmon need a pulse flow to push them down the river and so far, pleadings from fishermen and people dependent on these fish for their livelihood have been ignored,\u201d Staplin said. \u201cConsidering rain is forecast for next week, it\u2019s hard to understand why the Bureau won\u2019t act to save these fish, especially after three years of no fishing due to this kind of water operation.\u201d<\/p>\n Following Fish and Wildlife Service\u2019s Monday announcement, Staplin said he sent an email to the Bureau of Reclamation urging the federal agency to release more water from Shasta Dam.<\/p>\n \u201cFlows in the upper river and at Wilkins Slough are nowhere near those needed to ensure even decent survival of this critical group of fish\u2026For the sake of keeping the salmon industry from being forced back into possible closure of the fishery in 2028, we ask you to do whatever is needed to make some water available now from Shasta,\u201d the email read.<\/p>\n As of Wednesday morning, Staplin said he had not received a response. The Coleman Hatchery and Bureau of Reclamation did not respond to The Sacramento Bee\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n A crowded, aging hatchery<\/p>\n Bob Clarke, a former fisheries program supervisor with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who for years oversaw operations at Coleman Hatchery, explained that the hatchery sometimes has to release fish once it reaches a point where fish can no longer be held safely without the risk of disease.<\/p>\n The hatchery has been asked to raise more fish in recent years following droughts, Clarke explained, through requests from fishing groups and state and federal agencies. The hatchery\u2019s likely at its maximum capacity, he said. At the same time, its water purification equipment is \u201clong overdue for repair,\u201d reducing how much water it can put through the facility.<\/p>\n In 2024, the Biden administration announced $20 million in funding to \u201cscope, plan, and design the major repair and rehabilitation\u201d of the Coleman Hatchery, with the money aimed at completing the planning work.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a year-long process,\u201d Clarke said, noting that the hatchery would have preferred to release the fish under better river conditions after investing so much time and effort caring for them from spawning onward. \u201cYou don\u2019t feel good about releasing fish into poor conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n Jeffres of UC Davis\u2019 Center for Watershed Sciences said he sees some hope in forecast cooler, wetter weather next week. \u201cSome, if not many, fish\u201d will still be in the system by next week that could benefit from cooler weather, \u201cif it actually does materialize,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou hate to manage by hope,\u201d Jeffres continued, adding that while water managers are trying to diversify risk by using a wider mix of release strategies under growing climate pressure, they are also in a situation where they must make decisions amid uncertainty about future conditions.<\/p>\n \u201cAll of these decisions that are being made are trying to minimize risk across the variety of potential climatic events that we might have,\u201d Jeffres said.<\/p>\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n
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