Drought-stricken California salmon travel to sea by truck
The salmon are transferred from the tanker to the sea at Mare Island, via a pipe.
REUTERS - NINA RIGGIO
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3 min
The reproduction of the chinook salmon, the king of the salmon of the Pacific Ocean, is threatened by the climate, in particular the repeated droughts that California has suffered for several years.
Since May 10, authorities in California have declared a state of drought-related emergency in 40 counties.
To help the fish survive in this environment, we help them to travel.
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This year, with the drought being even earlier than in previous years, California's rivers are already too low for salmon to swim.
So the California Department of Wildlife decided to help the young salmon by taking them in tank trucks from hatcheries up rivers to the ocean.
The operation was launched in April and will continue until the end of this month.
Chinook salmon, native to the North Pacific Ocean and the North West American river system, are migratory: they are born in rivers, spend their life in the ocean, then return to lay their eggs in their native river. before dying.
17 million salmon transported by road
Chinook females lay eggs in the spring so that the young salmon take advantage of the good season to grow and can descend the river to the estuary before reaching the ocean.
The American River, near Sacramento, California, already has too low a flow for salmon to swim in.
REUTERS - NINA RIGGIO
But for the past fifteen years, recurrent droughts have dried up rivers and the mortality of migrating salmon has become very high.
This is why the California authorities have preferred to anticipate and they plan to make 17 million young salmon travel by road this year.
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