the Tailout May 2020 tailout_may2020finalx | Page 13

Winter-run juvenile Chinook salmon being prepared for release.
Hatchery
Salmon
Aid
in Recovery
ALMOST 4 MILLION JUVENILE SACRAMENTO
RIVER WINTER CHINOOK MAKE IT TO THE
OCEAN FOLLOWING DROUGHT RECOVERY
MEASURES.
BIOLOGISTS HAVE ESTIMATED THAT IN December almost
3.8 million juvenile winter-run chinook salmon headed
down the Sacramento River toward the ocean. According
to NOAA, it is the most since 2009, when about 5 million
juveniles traveled downriver.
The rebounding numbers of winter-run Chinook salmon
reflect the critical help of a conservation fish hatchery and
balanced water management. More favorable ocean condi-
tions also benefited the parents of this year’s surging crop
of juveniles, biologists say. About 8,000 adult fish returned
to the Sacramento River to spawn earlier in 2019, the most
since 2006.
“These fish continue to impress us with their resilience
and their ability to survive if given the opportunity,” said
Maria Rea, Assistant Regional Administrator for NOAA
Fisheries’ California Central Valley Office. “By working
cooperatively, we can make the best use of our suite of tools
to protect and recover these endangered fish.”
NOAA biologists are calling 2019’s generation of juve-
nile winter-run chinook salmon “critical.” Two years’ worth
of naturally produced winter-run chinook salmon offspring
were almost entirely lost in 2014 and 2015 during Califor-
www.salmonandsteelheadjournal.com
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