OROVILLE, Calif. – The Department of Water Resources (DWR) released more than 430,000 steelhead trout into the Feather River.
Over the last two weeks, the staff at the Feather River Fish Hatchery moved the steelhead trout raised last year into the Feather River, located below Yuba City. An additional 10,000 trout went into the Thermalito Afterbay to support the popular recreational fishery.
Releasing the young fish farther downstream improves their chances of surviving predator attacks by shortening their migration route, according to the DWR.
The Feather River Fish Hatchery is a California State Water Project (SWP) facility that was built in the late 1960s to mitigate impacts on fish migration resulting from the construction of Oroville Dam, which the DWR said prevented access to spawning grounds further upstream.