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Net Pen Rearing of California Chinook Salmon

March 26, 2014 By JD 8 Comments

(NOTE: I’m getting hit up with lots of questions this year about the smolt acclimation project that’s happening in the Sacramento River basin this spring, so I thought I’d repost this to give you some inside info).

You have no doubt heard about how California and the Feds, in response to extreme drought conditions in the Central Valley, are going to truck and net pen rear 30 million Chinook salmon smolt this spring. The first loads of small salmon were delivered to Rio Vista and released into the Sacramento River on Monday, March 24 and the project will continue into May.

Salmon taking the quick ride from tanker truck to the protective custody of the net pens

Salmon taking the quick ride from tanker truck to the protective custody of the net pens

I’m a huge supporter of this and figured I’d give you a little background…

Out-migrating hatchery Chinook salmon smolt from California’s Central Valley rivers have to navigate a seemingly impossible list of hazards that include massive water diversions, predators at every turn, poor water quality and temperatures that are often 70 degrees and higher. In a low water year like this, the trip is exponentially more lethal.

FFC biologist James Walker oversees the offloading of Chinook smolt from the tanker trucks to the net pens. On this day, the pens received approximately half a million fish. The transfer of the fish from the DFW’s trucks to the pens takes close to and hour.

FFC biologist James Walker oversees the offloading of Chinook smolt from the tanker trucks to the net pens. On this day, the pens received approximately half a million fish. The transfer of the fish from the DFW’s trucks to the pens takes close to and hour.

To help increase the odds of the little salmon’s survival, the California Department of Fish & Wildlife has been engaged in trucking the fish to locations in the lower Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta and upper San Francisco Bay for decades. The ride down Interstates 5 and 80 from the hatcheries on the Feather, Mokelumne and American rivers has given the fish a fighting chance but the feds, who operate Coleman National Fish Hatchery on the Sacramento River, have been more concerned with straying than salmon survival and have not participated. This year, however, the Golden Gate Salmon Association presented compelling evidence that the loss of salmon dumped directly into the river would be catastrophic and the feds finally agreed.

But simply trucking the salmon doesn’t ensure their survival — dumping the smolt directly into the water (like planted trout) made it so that predators like striped bass, sea lions, terns, seagulls, cormorants, etc. had plenty of food to eat. It was pure carnage at the release sites as the dazed fish suffered heavy losses immediately after leaving the trucks.

Immediately after hitting the water in the pens, the Chinook are dazed and confused. Most flounder around on the surface…and it is here where you can really see the benefits of the “protective custody” that the net pens provide. It’s estimated that at least 20% of the smolt are lost to predation from birds during this vulnerable period. In as little as 20 minutes in the pens, however, the fish get their wits about them and start to school up.

Immediately after hitting the water in the pens, the Chinook are dazed and confused. Most flounder around on the surface…and it is here where you can really see the benefits of the “protective custody” that the net pens provide. It’s estimated that at least 20% of the smolt are lost to predation from birds during this vulnerable period. In as little as 20 minutes in the pens, however, the fish get their wits about them and start to school up.

Fishery Foundation of California, which 20 years ago saw a better way…

According to the Foundation’s Executive Director, Trevor Kennedy, the FFC funded the area’s first net pen acclimation pilot study. They found that the net pens worked…big time. In fact, surveys showed that survival rates to the ocean for Chinook acclimated in the pens were 400% higher than those simply dumped straight into the river.

Think about that for a second…four hundred percent better survival! When you’re talking about that kind of improved survival for the tens of millions of fish released, you can see what a profound impact such a simple project can have!

Once the fish are all loaded up and acclimated to their new surroundings, the pens are covered in netting to protect from bird attacks, the lines are cast off and the whole unit is towed to the release site.

Once the fish are all loaded up and acclimated to their new surroundings, the pens are covered in netting to protect from bird attacks, the lines are cast off and the whole unit is towed to the release site.

After that, the project got the green light to go full bore and the numbers are impressive. The amount of fish that are released via the net pens varies annually, but Kennedy says that his outfit typically does 60 to 70 percent of the State’s Chinook…and are doing all of them in 2014!

Initially, the funding came from mitigation money from the water contractors for the zillions of smolt they sucked up in their pumps. Then, money for the project came from the Commercial Salmon Trollers. Kennedy said that for the past 6 years, the funding has come from Bay-Delta Fishery Enhancement Stamp. Unfortunately, future sources for this program are unclear…but it obviously needs to be continued!

James Walker and Kari Bur pulling the net at the release site and sending the little salmon on their way..

James Walker and Kari Bur pulling the net at the release site and sending the little salmon on their way..

The downside is the DFW and Feds would prefer to release fish in the river instead. They have this huge concern about salmon straying into the “wrong” systems. But, come on folks…in the Central Valley, which has been so altered by man, there’s nothing natural left. In this day and age, a live salmon in a river is a good salmon…regardless of origin.

Filed Under: River Restoration Projects Tagged With: acclimation, american river, chinook salmon, coleman national fish hatchery, feather river, fishery foundation of california, golden gate salmon association, mokelumne river, net pens, sacramento river

Interesting Read: Are Central Valley Steelhead “threatened?”

December 10, 2013 By JD 4 Comments

20131210-101719.jpg
I’m not sure I am ready to give up protecting Central Valley steelhead, but Dr. Peter Moyle of UC Davis makes some interesting observations about steelies in the Sac system.

Are Central Valley Steelhead really threatened?

By Peter Moyle
The primary goal of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) is to shorten the government’s list of “endangered” and “threatened” species. The American Peregrine falcon, the brown pelican, the eastern Steller sea lion and California populations of the gray whale are among the iconic creatures that have recovered to large populations and have been “delisted,” thanks to the strong conservation measures afforded under the 40-year-old law.

But there is another, less congratulatory way species have made it off the lists: new and better information becomes available showing a species is no longer or never was in danger of extinction.

Though better known for saving species, the ESA also has had the salutary effect of encouraging continuous scientific monitoring and studies of listed species to confirm or update their status. A good example is the Sacramento splittail. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the native California fish as threatened in 1999, but delisted the species in 2003 because new information showed it was more abundant and resilient than once thought.

Central Valley steelhead could be delisted for similar reasons.

Read the rest of the article HERE

Filed Under: uncategorized Tagged With: american river, central valley, dr peter moyle, feather river, Steelhead, yuba river

Nor Cal: Water & Snow everywhere!

March 24, 2011 By JD 4 Comments

The Howe Ave. parking lot on the American River underwater


Tthe calendar says “spring” but Northern California has been getting hammered by a series of huge winter storms all week which have delivered serious amounts of rain to the lower elevations and many feet of snow to the high country…the likes of which we haven’t seen since I was a kid.

Of course, all that weather isn’t without complications. Most NorCal rivers are raging and the reservoirs are full. The Sacramento River is currently running around 100,000 CFS and getting very close to flood stage. With all the snow in the high country, let’s keep our fingers crossed that there are no Pineapple Express-style warm storms heading this way! On a positive note, we should have plenty of water this year!Click here to read more…

Filed Under: uncategorized Tagged With: american river, flood, lake tahoe, sacramento river, snow

The kid’s first-ever steelie!

November 15, 2010 By JD 10 Comments

Took Coop down to the ol’ backyard late yesterday evening for a quick plug pulling session and he managed to go 2 for 2 on small steelies, the first two of his young steelheading career. Not the biggest fish in terms of weight, but so huge in other ways!

I knew there were decent numbers of these little “egg-eater” size fish around and I figured they’d be the perfect size for a 4-year-old. Though the little fish were pretty scrappy on kokanee rods, the little dude was able to crank ’em in all by himself. He was stoked! But not nearly as much as dad…

We were only out for an hour and the problem now is convincing him you don’t catch a couple steelies every time out!

Filed Under: Cool Photos Tagged With: american river, cooper fishing, Steelhead

The American River: The Depressing Truth

November 2, 2009 By JD 3 Comments

American Numbers
So, just how bad has the salmon situation in Northern California gotten? Well, here’s a little spreadsheet I found stapled to the wall of the Nimbus Fish Hatchery on the American River near Sacramento.

Take a close look…the numbers to the right of the red line are Chinook salmon counts; to the left of the blue line are the corresponding years in which those fish returned to the river. Beginning in 2000, we had five straight years of 100,000+ kings in the American. And then by 2007-08, the run had dwindled to 10 percent.

I floated an 8-mile stretch of river on Nov. 1 just to see for myself how things were shaping up for the 09-10 fall and I saw a total of two alive kings, 1 dead one and no redds. A trip to the hatchery a few days before revealed a few fish behind the weir, empty holding ponds and no water yet even running down the ladder. This, my friends, is not looking good…

Late October and not a single fish in the hatchery...

Late October and not a single fish in the hatchery...

Filed Under: uncategorized Tagged With: american river, california chinook salmon collapse

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