CDFG News Release - Stranded Chinook Salmon Successfully Rescued from Butte Creek

California Department of Fish and Game News Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - July 16, 2010
Contacts:
Harry Morse, DFG Communications, (916) 322-8962
Joe Johnson, DFG Fisheries Supervisor, (916) 358-2943              

Stranded Chinook Salmon Successfully Rescued from Butte Creek
State and federal fisheries experts arrived at Butte Creek yesterday, expecting to capture and transport 75-80 spring run Chinook salmon stranded in Butte Creek. They captured and relocated 123. The salmon, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, had stopped their migratory journey through the lower reach of the river because of rising water temperatures.
The Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) combined efforts to rescue the fish. Staff netted the salmon, implanted radio transmitters in 22 of them and moved them upstream to cooler water, so they can continue their spawning migration.
"Due to the extremely low number of returning fish this year to Butte Creek, every fish is important," said Joe Johnson, DFG Fisheries Supervisor. "We didn't expect to find 123 fish, but we were prepared. We tagged all of them and place radio transmitters in two groups of fish in two areas. We want to find out how many of these stranded salmon will survive to spawn, and what the results are for this type of rescue."
Snorkel surveys conducted at the end of June only recorded 300 salmon in this area, instead of an expected 3,000 to 5,000. A variety of factors may have delayed or altered the normal migration timing and pattern, including a late spring and cold high flows out of the Yuba River.
The water in the Butte Creek pool where the fish were stranded is significantly warmer than the rest of the river, creating a thermal block that causes the migrating salmon to dive to the bottom in search of cooler waters. As long as the water remains warm, the fish will not move forward. This particular spot on the river has been a trouble spot for spring run salmon in previous years.
DFG fisheries staff and NOAA biologists solved the problem by setting seine nets to capture the stranded salmon. Biologists then used dip nets to capture fish out of the larger seine net and place them in a net pen. Each fish, some of whom weighed up to 30 lbs., was carefully moved from the net pen in dip nets by a line of workers to transfer the fish up a steep bank. The fish were then loaded into a hatchery truck and transported up river for release, thus moving them around the warm water thermal block.
This year, for the second time, DFG, NOAA and staff from the University of California, Davis implanted a percentage of the rescued salmon with radio tracking devices, while the rest were tagged with small, external colored tags. The trackers will enable biologists to monitor how rescued fish behave after being rescued and if they contribute to the overall salmon population.
Butte Creek's spring run Chinook salmon have been listed as a threatened species since 1999. More than $35 million has been spent by state, federal and private parties on restoration and recovery efforts on the watershed. Over the past decade, changes in habitat and water management have helped the population rebound somewhat, but Central Valley salmon populations can still vary significantly from year to year. Over the past ten years, the run has averaged 6,000 fish, but today, surveys indicate a much lower salmon return.  

Central Valley Rivers
Bob Boucke of Johnson’s Bait in Yuba City reported on Wednesday 7-7 there have been several large stripers caught with some of the large fish released in the past three days. There have been few fishermen, but the holiday weekend brought out a few more, and the fish keep coming in. The best bite has been from Tisdale to Ward’s Landing on the Sacramento River with at least 6 large hens landed on cutbaits or black plastic worms. Bob Bradbury of the shop released a 20-pounder on sardines after weeding through 50 undersized fish. One local caught and reportedly consumed a 26-pounder on sardines. There have also been large stripers caught at Shanghai Bend on the Feather River with a couple of fish reportedly breaking off 30-pound test. An 18-inch steelhead was also caught and released on the Feather River on a sardine. The flows on the Feather have increased in the past couple of days, and the salmon should be on the move towards the hatchery. Boucke said, “I can’t wait until the salmon season opens on July 31^st on the Feather because the river is loaded with fish”.