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500,000 salmon start life in strait

Posted by: Maven on June 6, 2009 at 6:07 am

From the Times-Herald:

With fingers crossed, state officials Thursday dumped about a half-million young salmon into Mare Island Strait as part of an ongoing effort to keep the fish from going extinct. If all goes according to plan, the smolts will swim into the San Pablo Bay and the Pacific Ocean. There they will fend for themselves for three years before — officials hope — about 1 percent will return to spawn.

The release follows last year’s record-low fall run of Central Valley chinook salmon. “We were at an all-time low of 66,000 fish returning last year,” Department of Fish and Game spokesman Harry Morse said. “Hopefully we’ll see an upswing.”

To restore salmon populations, officials have released more than 30 million smolts into coastal waters during the past 10 years. This year, the Department of Fish and Game plans to release nearly 15 million tiny salmon.

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June 6, 2009 · Filed Under Wildlife & Endangered Species

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