Yuba Salmon Study: Community Meetings on Chinook Reintroduction

Please join the Yuba Salmon Study to learn more about the rotary screw trap trials and what is next for the effort to reintroduce spring-run Chinook salmon to the North Yuba River.

A community meeting will be held in Downieville on July 23rd at the North Yuba Hall from 5:30pm-7:30pm. Another community meeting will be in Nevada City on July 31st in the Gene Albaugh Community Room at the Madelyn Helling Library from 5:30pm-7:30pm.

The Yuba Salmon Study is a collaborative planning and implementation program led by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries and California Department of Fish & Wildlife (CDFW). The vision of this project is to reintroduce spring-run Chinook salmon to their historical habitat in the upper Yuba River watershed through a phased, science-based, and cost-effective reintroduction project that will inform future Central Valley reintroduction decisions.

In support of this effort, from October 2023 to May 2024, multiple rotary screw traps (RSTs) were installed on the North Yuba River. One was located at Rocky Rest Campground at RM 25.6 and the others along Old Toll Bridge Road near Good Years Bar at RM 33.6.

Although the traps were not catching any fish at the time, the trial has helped inform how they may be used going forward.

On either July 23rd or July 31st, join representatives from Yuba Water Agency, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, FishBio, United States Forest Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL) for these community meetings. They will provide presentations on how the rotary screw trap trials went and what pilot studies will occur this fall. A question and answer period will follow the presentations.

To find out more about the Yuba Salmon Study, please visit their website at yubasalmonstudy.com