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CENTRAL VALLEY SPRING-RUN CHINOOK SALMON

Oncorhynchus tshawytscha

Four distinct runs of Chinook salmon spawn in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River system, named for the season when the majority of the run enters freshwater as adults. Spring-run Chinook enter the Sacramento River from late March through September. Adults hold in cool water habitats through the summer, then spawn in the fall from mid-August through early October. Spring-run juveniles migrate soon after emergence as young-of-the-year, or remain in freshwater and migrate as yearlings.

Spring-run Chinook were historically the most abundant race in the Central Valley. Now only remnant runs remain in Butte, Mill, Deer, Antelope, and Beegum Creeks, tributaries to the Sacramento River. In the mainstem Sacramento River and the Feather River, early-running Chinook salmon occur, but significant hybridization with fall-run has occurred. Due to the small number of non-hybridized populations remaining and low population sizes, Central Valley spring-run were listed as threatened under both the state and federal endangered species acts in 1999.

• Central Valley Salmon and Steelhead Monitoring Programs (May 2007, .pdf)
• Restoring Central Valley Streams: A Plan for Action
• Contributions to the Biology of Central Valley Salmonids Fish Bulletin 179
• 1998 Status Review of Spring Run Chinook Salmon in Sacramento River Drainage (.pdf)

 

Annual reports to the Fish and Game Commission on spring-run chinook:

• 2002-2003 BIENNIAL Report (.pdf)
• 2001 ANNUAL Report (.pdf)
• 2000 ANNUAL Report (.pdf)
• 2000 ANNUAL Report Eratta (.txt)

More Info from Southwest Fisheries Science Center, NOAA Fisheries Service:

• Central Valley Technical Recovery Team Reports