FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 31, 2026
Media Contact:
William O’Neal, Golden State Salmon Association, (510) 282-7830, william@goldenstatesalmon.org
GSSA advocacy helps secure $39.5 million to bring DNA tracking of hatchery salmon statewide
Santa Rose, CA — As a result of advocacy by the Golden State Salmon Association, California has secured $39.5 million to implement 21st-century DNA tracking of hatchery salmon throughout the state.
The funding provides the full amount needed to operate California’s Parentage-Based Tagging (PBT) program through 2030.
One of the biggest benefits of this technology is that it can give hatchery managers greater flexibility to release juvenile salmon during healthy periods of rain and runoff in late winter, rather than having tagging requirements contribute to holding fish until spring, when agricultural water diversions can create increasingly dangerous conditions for migrating salmon.
PBT uses DNA collected from parent fish to identify their offspring genetically. It represents a major advance over traditional coded-wire tagging, which requires inserting tiny pieces of wire containing identifying information into the snouts of juvenile salmon.
Historically, salmon needed to reach a certain size before they could receive coded-wire tags. That could contribute to fish being held until spring before release into Central Valley rivers and streams.
That timing is VERY important.
Juvenile salmon evolved to migrate from the rivers and streams of their birth toward the ocean by riding the high, cold and often turbid flows produced by late-winter and early-spring runoff.
With dams blocking access to much of the Central Valley’s historic salmon habitat, agricultural diversions become a major determinant of river flows once the growing season begins. As those diversions increase, conditions can become increasingly hostile for juvenile salmon migrating toward the Delta, San Francisco Bay and Pacific Ocean.
Higher, colder and more turbid flows can help juvenile salmon move quickly downstream while protecting them from predators. Lower and clearer water can give predatory fish the upper hand.
PBT allows California to better align hatchery practices with the natural conditions salmon evolved to use.
GSSA Worked to Secure the Funding
The $39.5 million for PBT was included in Proposition 4 after GSSA worked with members of the California Legislature to secure funding for the program.
After voters approved Proposition 4, GSSA continued working to protect the allocation as outside groups sought funding for other programs.
The final allocation means California now has the funding needed to operate the PBT program through 2030 without returning to the Legislature year after year to fight for continued support.
“GSSA is grateful to our friends in the state legislature who helped get the money needed to increase survival of juvenile hatchery salmon greatly,” said John McManus, Senior Policy Director of GSSA.
GSSA offers special thanks to Senate Natural Resources and Water Committee Chair Josh Becker (San Mateo County) and Senate President Pro Tempore Monique Limón (Santa Barbara) for listening to the voices of California’s salmon community and recognizing the importance of modernizing the way our state manages hatchery salmon. Their leadership has been invaluable in advancing policies and investments that give California salmon a better chance to survive and thrive.
Another Victory for California Salmon
The PBT funding follows two other major legislative victories for California salmon in which GSSA played a leading role.
GSSA recently helped stop two bills that would have allowed major new diversions of water from Central Valley salmon rivers.
AB 2215 would have provided new rights that could facilitate additional diversions of Sacramento River water, including for the proposed Delta Tunnel. AB 2026 would have expanded opportunities to divert water from salmon rivers to refill underground aquifers without adequate protections for salmon.
GSSA members joined the effort by contacting their representatives, while GSSA staff and policy advocates worked directly with state lawmakers.
Together, these victories demonstrate what sustained advocacy for California salmon can accomplish: protecting the water salmon need today while investing in better science and management for the future.