The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Coleman National Fish Hatchery is the largest salmon hatchery in California, annually producing 12 million fall Chinook Salmon smolts that substantially contribute to California’s ocean and inland fisheries. Standard practice at Coleman NFH is to release smolts on-site into Battle Creek; however, during the severe drought of 2014 and 2015, degraded water quality throughout the Sacramento River and Delta raised concerns that fish released on-site would not survive their emigration to the ocean. Consequently, … Continue reading BAY DELTA SCIENCE CONFERENCE: Harvest, Hatchery Returns, and Straying of Salmon Released at Bay and Delta sites during California’s Drought