Less than 4,000 salmon spawned in the Yuba River last year. The Monitoring Update from the River Accord Management Team says that’s the lowest since the salmon stock collapse in 2007 and 2008. The report says we’re likely seeing just the beginning of a period of low returns resulting from the drought. But Gary Reedy, a consulting salmon expert for the South Yuba River Citizens League, says there are other more longtime factors…
Over the last 30 years, the report says the average annual estimate exceeded 15,000, with occasional runs above 30,000. Historically, it was as high as 100,000, including before Englebright Dam was constructed in 1941, which blocks access to habitat. Reedy says salmon have a unique ecological value…
Reedy says salmon also used to have a large economic impact, including the commercial and sport fishing industries. Meanwhile, the report says SYRCL is working with local stakeholders in aggressively restoring conditions in the Lower Yuba River, so that juvenile salmon can leave the Yuba in the very best condition to survive their migration to the ocean and return.
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