Friday November 10, 2023
Daily Kos —
A possible record run of fall-run Chinook salmon is now returning to the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery. In contrast, the Coleman National Fish Hatchery on Battle Creek, a tributary of the Sacramento, is reporting the second lowest return of fall-run Chinooks in many years.
The fish are now returning from the ocean in a year where all salmon fishing was closed in California’s rivers and ocean waters, due to the projected low abundance of Sacramento and Klamath River fall-run Chinook salmon, so fishery managers and salmon advocates are keeping a close eye on this fall’s spawning escapement.
The total numbers of hatchery and naturally spawned fish returning to the Mokelumne, American, Feather and Sacramento River and their tributaries won’’t be known until the numbers of fish returning to the hatcheries and carcass counts on the rivers are compiled by the CDFW and NOAA Fisheries in February 2024 in preparation for the Pacific Fishery Management Council meetings that craft the fishing seasons and restrictions.