PROTECTING
WILD CALIFORNIA
Lonnie Sullivan, maintenance mechanic at Coleman National Fish Hatchery, waits for his truck to finish filling before driving to San Rafael to release fall Chinook smolts into San Francisco Bay. About 92.5 percent of the salmon raised at Coleman this year were released into Battle Creek, where the facility is located. But when Sacramento River conditions turned poor in April, hatchery managers decided to assist the remaining Chinook with transportation to the bay. (LAURA MAHONEY/USFWS)
HATCHERIES GET A HEAD START ON DROUGHT CONDITIONS, BOOSTING ODDS FOR SALMON By Brandon Honig
W
hen drought comes to California, fish engage in a struggle to survive. Less rain and snow means a drop in water quality, warmer water and less streamflow, leading to increased disease and predation for many species. At Northern California’s national fish
hatcheries, early drought planning and intervention can be the key to survival for millions of juvenile salmon. “We were talking about (drought response) in January, hoping weather conditions would improve, but developing a game plan in case they didn’t,” says Brett Galyean, project leader for Coleman and Livingston Stone National Fish Hatcheries. “We were able to release about 11.8
million fall Chinook before river conditions turned poor because we planned ahead and used the tools in our toolbox.” One of those tools turned out to be earlier releases. Instead of releasing all of its juvenile fall Chinook in April, Coleman released about 6 million in March, when the water was colder, more plentiful and less clear. Work in previous years has shown
calsportsmanmag.com | SEPTEMBER 2021 California Sportsman
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