DFG News Archive

Endangered Winter-Run Chinook Show Highest Numbers Since 1981

The number of endangered winter-run Chinook salmon returning to spawn in the Sacramento River continues to increase and now exceeds 15,000 fish. This is based on surveys conducted this summer by the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. This preliminary estimate is the highest since 1981, and continues the trend seen since the mid-1990s.

“ We are very encouraged by this upward trend in the number of winter-run Chinook salmon returning to the Sacramento River,” said DFG Director Ryan Broddrick. “We commend the major cooperative efforts of many agencies and stakeholder groups that have contributed to this increase. However, we have not yet reached sustained recovery of the run, and continued protection, monitoring and management will be needed for years to come to ensure full recovery. For this reason, the Department remains strongly committed to the continued protection of winter-run Chinook salmon.”

Winter-run Chinook salmon spawn only in the mainstem Sacramento River between Keswick Dam near Redding and the Red Bluff Diversion Dam. It is recognized as a distinct run from the three other Chinook salmon runs that spawn in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system - the fall, late-fall, and spring runs. Severe winter-run population declines occurred from the late 1960’s through the mid-1990s. In the late 1960s, estimated spawning returns were over 50,000 fish each year. By 1994, however, it was estimated there were fewer than 200 spawners left. Due to this decline, the Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon was listed as an endangered species in 1989 under the California Endangered Species Act, and in 1994 under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Cooperative efforts since those earlier declines have resulted in many positive changes, including revisions in ocean and inland harvest regulations, restoration of instream habitat for spawning and rearing, improved temperature conditions for spawning and egg incubation, improved water quality, improved passage at diversion structures, screening of numerous water diversions, changes in the operation of Delta diversion facilities, and hatchery supplementation.

These changes, along with favorable conditions for ocean survival in recent years, have contributed to the upward trend in spawning returns. However, the current population remains below the recovery level defined in 1997 by an interdisciplinary team of scientists. According to this plan, the population will need to reach a higher level, sustained over a 13-year time period, to be considered for removal from the threatened and endangered species lists.