Hatchery Salmon Returned to the Sacramento River
The 2025 Sacramento River Chinook Salmon Carcass Reintroduction Program is under way!
The Bridge Group [Gold Gate Fishermen’s Association, Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Association, Sac River Settlement Contractors and NorCal Guides & Sportsmen’s Association], CDFW, Volunteers and Coleman National Fish Hatchery partner to collect and return spawned out adult hatchery salmon and to place them back into the Sacramento River. This is one of many projects to aid salmon recovery in Northern California. These dead salmon have marine-rich nutrients that need to be deposited back into the watershed and ecosystem as nature intended.
The Bridge Group unites fishermen, farmers, and conservationists to find solutions for rebuilding salmon populations for the Sacramento River, using a combination of on-the-ground experience and modern science. Other projects include a inland Net Pen Program for juvenile fish to imprint on Sacramento river water, so they will return to the Sacramento Main Stem.
Our volunteers have returned 40+ totes of salmon back into the watershed so far in 2025, but they are in need of more volunteers to haul these totes of fish from Coleman National Fish Hatchery to the distribution sites. They also need boats to help distribute the salmon and helpers to physically toss the carcasses into the river.
As part of the pacific salmon natural life cycle these fish die after spawning in the river. It is important that salmon die in the rivers they were born at or in because their decaying bodies act as a natural fertilizer, providing vital nutrients like nitrogen to the river ecosystem. These nutrients support plant and tree growth along the riverbanks, which in turn provides shade, cools the water, and creates habitat for young fish and the insects they feed on. This process ensures the health of the river and the survival of the next generation of salmon.
When these fish return to the hatchery, they are killed after being spawned for their eggs. For years the hatchery was disposing of their carcasses in many different ways, but none of them were returned to the river of their origin. A group of local guides inquired if they could take these dead salmon and distribute their carcasses along several miles of key spawning grounds along the Sacramento River. CDFW and the Coleman agreed and a partnership was born.
Any and all volunteers are welcome!
If you are unable to help in these ways, you can still help fund this program or spread awareness. Visit our donations page at https://ncgasa.org/product/donation/ and make a donation where you can indicate you’d like to donate to this program. Or you can simply join us with a $30 annual membership.
If can volunteer your time to help us out, shoot us an email to ncgasa530@gmail.com and we’ll put you in touch with our lead volunteer Joshua Peard from Peard Fishing. You can text Joshua for more info: 530-722-8834.
Thank you to our many volunteers Paul Young, Michael Whiteside, Jason James, Jonathen Johnson, Robert Dunn, Intentional Wellness Center and North River for all your help and your support!
Please help save the KINGS of the Sacramento River.
Watch our videos on the NorCal Guides YouTube Channel: https://youtu.be/rntAVWzn1-Y?si=ephVxjW-_9hRyK90
