The Net Pen Project puts hatchery juvenile salmon in river water to decrease straying
Approximately 540,000 Sacramento fall-run juvenile salmon spent three weeks growing in large protective net pens in the Tehama-Colusa Canal forebay so that the fish could imprint on Sacramento River water in hopes more will return up the river as adults.
When juvenile salmon from the Coleman National Fish Hatchery are trucked to the San Francisco Bay, they miss key olfactory cues that help them navigate back as adults. Because these fish are reared on Battle Creek and do not travel down the Sacramento River, they tend to stray into other rivers when returning from the Pacific Ocean to spawn. Straying can impact the hatcheries’ ability to obtain enough broodstock to meet their production goals…