October 31, 2025 — The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) plans to inject 350,000 Chinook salmon eggs into the North Yuba River this fall as the state government looks for new ways to help struggling salmon populations recover.
This is the second year CDFW has taken this approach, collecting eggs fertilized at the Feather River Fish Hatchery in Oroville and then hydraulically injecting them into the river’s gravel substrate in November.
February 22, 2017 — On Friday, the staff at the Feather River Fish Hatchery, just downstream from the stricken Oroville Dam, took stock of their losses, gave thanks for their victories and girded for a long, hard recovery after being inundated with debris-laden water the color of chocolate milk.
A few thousand Chinook salmon fry didn’t make it. But millions of others survived, as did 1 million federally endangered steelhead trout eggs.
The dirty water had been spewed from a jagged crater in the dam’s main, concrete-lined spillway discovered after California Department of Water Resources officials increased releases of reservoir water a week ago to offset inflows of rainfall. By the time they halted the releases to inspect the damage, the Feather River below had been transformed into a torrent of fouled river water.
“Our hatchery, which rears salmon and steelhead, draws all of its water from the river,” said facility manager Anna Kastner, 52, wincing at the memory. “Suddenly, it was awash in liquid mud.”