Category Archives: River Restoration Projects

More salmon for you and me thanks to the FFC!

Posted on May 8, 2013 • 1 Comment


How do you ensure that more adult salmon end up in Northern California waters? Just ask the fine folks at the Fishery Foundation of California who have had our back with their net pen acclimation program.

I took a ride with Trevor Kennedy, Kari Burr and James Walker of the FFC on Wednesday as they took a load of approximately a half a million Chinook salmon smolt from the Feather River Hatchery, acclimated them and then released them into the bay near Carquinez Straits. Thanks to this cooperative effort between The Fishery Foundation and CDFW, salmon survival has shown to be 400 percent higher than just straight dumping them into the water.

Rather than tell you about it, watch the video. Very, very cool stuff!!!

Filed Under: News, River Restoration Projects

Movie Trailer: Return of the River

Posted on February 26, 2013 • 4 Comments


This kind of stuff gives me hope! Here’s a look at the trailer for Return of the River, a film about the largest dam removal project in the history of the United States.

Filed Under: River Restoration Projects

After Dam Removal: Wild Steelhead Returning to Washington’s Elwah River!

Posted on July 22, 2012 • 3 Comments

The River running free again!

You just have to give Mother Nature a chance…after 108-foot high Elwah Dam was removed from Washington’s Elwah River last September, biologists are already finding wild steelhead spawning above the old dam site!

Even more exciting is the fact that the other dam on the river, Glines Canyon Dam (upstream 8 miles) is in the process of being removed as well. Once that barrier is taken down, salmon and steelhead will have full access to the river and her tributaries — much of which lies in pristine condition in Olympic National Park!

Read the entire story at the LA TIMES

Filed Under: News, River Restoration Projects

Fishery Foundation of California: Doing positive things for Nor Cal

Posted on June 14, 2012 • 5 Comments

The Foundation's Kari Burr and Jimmy Walker tending to the salmon net pens


Between water diversions, encroaching development and general habitat loss, fish populations in the Northern California seem to be heading south these days.

Though there are lots of factors contributing to the demise of our fisheries, there are also some bright spots.

The Fishery Foundation of California is a prime example of the latter. FFC is a non-profit organization comprised of passionate biologists dedicated to improving and enhancing the recreational and commercial fisheries of the state. … Continue Reading

Filed Under: River Restoration Projects

Condit Dam on White Salmon River Breached!

Posted on October 30, 2011 • 5 Comments

Salmon and steelhead on Washington State’s White Salmon River are going to have over 33 miles of new spawning habitat thanks to the breaching of Condit Dam on Oct. 26. The dam has been blocking anadramous fish runs for over 6 decades and now the White Salmon is again running free! The video is bad-ass. Check it out!

Filed Under: News, River Restoration Projects

Fishing for Science: Tagging Fall-Run Chinook Salmon

Posted on March 20, 2011 • 4 Comments

In the March 2011 issue of Salmon Trout Steelheader Magazine, I did a photo essay of the spring-run Chinook tagging project I was involved with last year (and again coming up this year as well). The basic gist of the whole deal was: Capture kings, quickly outfit them with acoustic tags and then let ‘em go. At that point, biologists could track the fish as they moved upstream, providing them with lots of good data about the migration habits of the fish. We also captured and tagged fall-run fish last year as well. Here’s a little look into the project…

Filed Under: River Restoration Projects

Guest Shot: Monterey Bay Salmon & Trout Project doing good things!

Posted on February 7, 2011 • 4 Comments

Matt Hansman and Mike Baxter prepare a wild steelhead for transfer to the hatchery.

Every now and then, I like to bring in somebody to do a guest editorial here…you know, to get a fresh perspective on something; a little “fresh meat.” This time around, we’re going to hear from Allen Bushnell (listen to him Friday mornings at 6:45 on KSCO radio 1080 AM), our main man on the ground in the Monterey Bay area, to give us the 411 on the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project:

The MBSTP was established in 1976 with the vision of restoring and enhancing salmon and steelhead habitat and populations within the greater Monterey Bay area. The project maintains a hatchery and rearing facility, producing thousands of juvenile steelhead, silver and king salmon that are returned to the wild each year. With the recent rainfall, the decision was made to initiate this year’s fish trapping program, to collect wild steelhead trout, both males and females that are transported to the hatchery for propagation. … Continue Reading

Filed Under: News, River Restoration Projects

The Greatest Job in the World, Part 2

Posted on January 19, 2011 • 12 Comments

It's not every day you get to custom build salmon spawning habitat!


You guys seemed so stoked by the Stanislaus River Gravel Restoration piece I did a while back in the Greatest Job in the World post, so I dug deep into the archives for a bunch of other photos (I have something like 1,200 of them!) from that project. So, without further adieu, here’s round two…… Continue Reading

Filed Under: River Restoration Projects