Biologists: Salmon numbers reduced

Stockton Record
01/15/2008

One week after officials reported yet another decline in several Delta fish species, biologists say the number of salmon returning to spawn in the San Joaquin River or its tributaries plummeted last year.

For the entire river basin, 1,158 adult salmon were counted in 2007, compared with 5,672 fish in 2006, according to the environmental consultant FishBio.

Over the past seven years, counts on the Stanislaus River have dropped from 8,498 salmon in 2000 to 405 fish last year.

Experts last fall said they were unsure exactly why the numbers were sagging. Since salmon are migratory, spending at least part of their lives in the ocean, San Francisco Bay, the Delta and upstream rivers, there are many potential causes.