Monday June 9, 2025
San Joaquin River Restoration Program —
The San Joaquin River Restoration Program set a new record this year for returning adult spring-run Chinook salmon: 448 – the highest number of captured returns recorded since the Program started reintroducing spring-run juveniles in 2014.
“The high return numbers clearly demonstrate that spring-run Chinook can survive and return to spawn in the San Joaquin River” said program manager, Dr. Donald Portz. “We look forward to a future where salmon will be able to swim unencumbered all the way to spawning grounds below Friant Dam,” he said.
The previous record for captured natural returns was 93 set in 2021.
Due to multiple in-stream structures which halt their migration upstream, the San Joaquin’s returning spring-run Chinook must be captured in fyke traps – large-diameter, mesh cylinders placed in the river – before they are trucked in a tank approximately 120 miles to Reach 1 of the Restoration Area near Friant Dam and released.