The million-dollar question is how are the salmon return numbers looking. Reports are changing daily, but early signs are showing that 2024 numbers are mirroring the last two years.
Congratulations to the Feather River Fish Hatchery and CDFW for reaching their spring-run egg-take goal. Fall-run spawning will begin soon and it seems that a healthy number of fish are currently in the river.
Returns are looking good for the American River based on the amount of fish waiting to go up the ladder at Nimbus Fish Hatchery. Spawning will most likely begin soon.
Mokelumne Fish Hatchery will start spawning this week. The salmon counted so far by the EBMUD camera appear to be on pace with the consistently high number of returns the hatchery has seen over the past several years. A recent pulse flow in the Mokelumne will continue to help bring fish upriver.
Coleman started spawning fall-run Chinook last week and has collected one million eggs. Most of the fish returning appear to be jacks with some adults mixed in. Unfortunately, at this rate, these numbers are also looking similar to last year if not worse.Thank you to all of the hatcheries for your hard work!