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Salmon and steelhead trout are migrating to the Mokelumne River just east of Lodi in what could be record numbers.
They’re returning from the ocean to spawn and conditions have never been better.
Abundant rainfall last year helped to release more water from Camanche Reservoir to help move the salmon up the river.
The East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD), which operates Camanche, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife worked together to improve the spawning beds.
Fishery Biologist Michelle Workman with EBMUD says with another month to go for the salmon run, the old record of 18,000 could be broken.
“The run started in early October and it has been going strong the whole way through," Workman says. "We’re currently sitting at over 15,000 fish and that’s compared to 5,000 fish the same time last year.”
The hatchery collects the eggs and fertilizes them, raising the young salmon until they are ready to be released in the spring.
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