Lodi paper on Mokelumne salmon

Here's a really good article on the state of the state's salmon.

A little good news, more bad news, some video, and historical info on salmon on the Mokelumne.

From the link, here's a chart of the salmon counts returning to the river. 2008 only had 361 fish. Just a few years ago it had over 16,000.



Get schooled up (pardon the pun) at the link. Here's part of the story.

One only has to visit the Mokelumne River Hatchery at the base of Camanche Dam to see the stark evidence of the salmon's absence.

Normally, the hatchery would be teeming with life. Thousands of small salmon would be struggling to free themselves from eggs or swimming in large troughs.

Those long, green troughs — dozens of which fill the hatchery — are mostly empty now. Only the soft sound of running water fills the echoing hatchery.

Each year, the hatchery tries to raise 6 million salmon smolt from 8 to 9 million eggs. This year, the hatchery has fewer than 300,000 eggs.