Upper Sacramento River Mainstem Fall-Run and Late Fall-Run Salmon Escapement
Sacramento Salmon: Improving the percent-return from Coleman Hatchery smolt releases
Article compiled by Tom Cannon, email him at thomascannon0@gmail.com
*Summary
The Sacramento River Fall Run Chinook Salmon (SRFRCS) population is the dominant salmon run in the Central Valley. It reached peak recent historic escapement levels of 500-900 thousand in 2003-2005 after a decade of wet years (Figure S-1). The peak followed a low period of 100-200 thousand from 1989 to 1991 during the 1987-1992 drought, followed by a gradual rebuilding period from 1994 to 2000. The recovery occurred during a period of higher tributary contributions from in-river spawning counts and modest increases in returns to the three fall-run hatcheries. (Hatcheries also contributed to the in-river counts1) The prominent factor in the recovery was higher returns from a decade of hatchery smolt releases to the Bay from the state American and Feather River hatcheries. Wetter years in 2010 and 2011, along with hatchery releases to the Bay and coast brought sharply higher escapement in 2012-2013 after the 2007-2009 drought.
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*Note: NCGASA is providing a place for more information on salmon, but all of Cannon’s recommendations do not necessarily represent the views of our organization.
