News Archive

BIG PINE – The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced that a sustained power outage has led to the widespread loss of fish at the Fish Springs Trout Hatchery. The power outage, which was outside CDFW’s control, occurred in the afternoon of Tuesday, May 20, 2025, in the Owens Valley, and lasted more than two hours. Fish Springs Trout Hatchery, powered by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, has backup diesel motors which can supply continued water pumping during power outage events. During the power outage on Tuesday, the backup diesel motors were non-operational due to a software issue. A contractor had been previously scheduled to come to the hatchery on Thursday, May 22 to diagnose the software issue, assess the motors, and help CDFW resolve the problem.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has made the difficult decision to cease hatchery operations at the Mad River Fish Hatchery in Humboldt County. A combination of increased regulatory burden and a lack of flexibility, aging infrastructure, significant and necessary costly repairs and maintenance, modernization needs, and low fish production and returns forced the decision to close the steelhead trout hatchery just east of Arcata.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) announced today the release of the California Salmon Strategy for a Hotter, Drier Future: Progress Report, developed in partnership with the California Natural Resources Agency (CNRA) with support from the Department of Water Resources (DWR) and the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB).

As part of statewide efforts to help Californians and wildlife recover from the Southern California fires, on Jan. 23 the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and its partners rescued 271 endangered Southern California steelhead trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) from Topanga Creek, the last known population of this species in the Santa Monica Mountains.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has seen the first returns of threatened coho salmon to the upper Klamath River Basin in more than 60 years following historic dam removal completed last month.