Sacramento River Salmon Project Hopeful It Can Improve Recent Dismal Returns Of Fish

Good piece from the ABC affiliate in Redding, KRCR, on a program to help restore king salmon in the Sacramento River, which has endured multiple years of fishing closures. Here are some details:

The Bridge Group is working to speed up the return of salmon by placing 500,000 young Chinook salmon into protective net pens instead of trucking them away. The effort is a multiyear experiment designed to increase survival and ultimately boost the number of salmon that return to the Sacramento River.

“One is to grow faster, and then two put them in the system so they migrate out sooner, so they won’t get perdated on, eaten by fish, while the higher likely success of survival,” said Thaddeus Bettner, executive director for the Sacramento River Contractors.

Bettner said exposing the salmon to the river’s water chemistry helps them remember it over the long term, improving the chances they will return.

There are high hopes for more salmon fishing opportunities this year after full closures in 2023 and 2024 and limited ocean and inland openings last year.