New and Improved Website
Welcome to the San Joaquin Basin website, a website designed to share fisheries and environmental information. When completed, this site will contain quick links to environmental information, such as flow, temperature, and dissolved oxygen for the San Joaquin River and its tributaries.
This website will include bi-weekly summaries of research in the basin, such as adult Chinook weir and carcass counts, juvenile outmigration results, as well as other fisheries related activities.
This website will also include information about restoration activities and will provide links to documents related to each of the rivers.
If you would like to contribute information to be posted on the website, please send an e-mail to Chrissy Sonke.
Latest News
2007 fall-run Chinook escapement throughout the West Coast is significantly lower than pre-season projections, especially in the Central Valley. Preliminary fall-run Chinook escapement estimates suggest 1,158 individuals returned to the San Joaquin Basin tributaries to spawn compared to approximately 5,800 in 2006. The highest number of fall-run Chinook returned to the Merced River (573), while the lowest number of fall-run Chinook returned to the Tuolumne River (180). A total of 405 fall-run Chinook were estimated to return to the Stanislaus River in 2007.
Similarly low numbers have been recorded in the Yuba River (i.e., less than 400). Yuba River fall-run escapement is down from last year when 3,457 Chinook were observed but is comparable to escapement in 2004. In Battle Creek, approximately 20,000 to 25,000 fall-run Chinook returned this year compared to 77,510 in 2006, 165,259 in 2005, and 92,093 in 2004. Five years earlier (2002), a record 463,296 fall-run Chinook returned to Battle Creek. Even though Battle Creek returns were low this year, the Coleman National Fish Hatchery was able to meet its spawning goals by taking in 10,000 Chinook which corresponds to about 12 million salmon that will be released in April 2008. The final number of fall spawners in most of the Central Valley rivers will not be available until later in the month.