News Room

Two California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) trout hatcheries in the Eastern Sierra are continuing to fight an outbreak of Lactococcus petauri, a naturally occurring bacteria that sickens fish. The current outbreak was first detected in April 2022.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is nearing the completion of its efforts to transport 19.7 million hatchery-raised fall-run and 960,000 spring-run juvenile Chinook salmon (known as smolts) to the San Pablo Bay, San Francisco Bay and seaside net pens this spring and summer.

Two CDFW fish hatchery facilities in the eastern Sierra have recently detected an outbreak of Lactococcus petauri, a naturally occurring bacteria that sickens fish. CDFW fishery managers are working to implement strategies that will help the facilities get the disease under control, without cancelling all trout plants prior to the traditional season opener on April 30.

Dog owners in northern California are reminded to take precautions to protect their pets from Salmon Poisoning Disease. Salmon Poisoning Disease is a potentially fatal condition seen only in dogs after they eat certain types of raw or cold smoked fish like trout and salmon that are infected with a bacteria-like organism, Neorickettsia helminthoeca, which is transmitted by the parasitic flatworm (or “fluke”) Nanophyetes salmincola.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) is pleased to announce that 21 of its 22 state fish hatcheries will reopen to the public on Thursday, April 7. The facilities have been closed to visitors for nearly two years during the Covid-19 pandemic, although hatchery operations and stocking efforts continued without significant interruption.

Due to drought and poor water conditions at Lake Sonoma, thousands of juvenile coho salmon have been relocated from the Warm Springs Fish Hatchery in Geyserville. The fish were trucked to a conservation facility at a high school in Petaluma where they will be reared until conditions improve.