Large-Scale Salmon Enhancement Select a topic from the list below Mokelumne River Hatchery Merced River Hatchery Thermalito Afterbay Sacramento Winter Run Iron Gate Hatchery Fish Transport Trailers Net Pens Avila Beach Monterey Bay Rowdy Creek Hatchery, Smith River  Increaseing Survival of Hatchery- Reared Salmon After Stocking A 1993 grant from the Salmon Stamp Project to the Fishery Foundation of California provided initial funds to examine the feasibility of unloading hatchery salmon from transport trucks into net pens buoyed in the receiving waters of San Francisco Bay rather than unloading the young salmon directly into receiving waters. Direct release of the trucked fish into receiving waters had resulted in substantial loss to predatory fishes and birds. Young salmon are particularly vulnerable to predators immediately following release, since they are disoriented and completely unaccustomed to their new surroundings. This problem is compounded when hatchery release schedules do not include numerous release locations or if they do not ensure randomness in release locations and times. If a given release location is stocked frequently and regularly, predators tend to congregate in anticipation of a free salmon dinner. The Fishery Foundation, a nonprofit associated with United Anglers, suggested releasing trucked hatchery salmon into net pens to reduce losses to predators. The floating pens provide temporary protection. Within a few minutes following their introduction to the pens, the young salmon begin to recover their equilibrium and, within a few hours, find themselves in a much-improved position for survival in the wild. After a few hours of holding, the pens are towed to open water, and the young salmon are released. The pilot project proved that net pens were feasible not only in concept, but in reality. The Salmon Stamp Program agreed to continue funding the project for several more years to evaluate its cost-effectiveness, comparing the additional return of adult salmon to the fishery with the costs of maintaining and operating the pens on a large scale. Results from coded-wire tagging studies indicate that survival of pen-acclimated salmon is much higher than that of salmon released directly at traditional sites. Presently, about three-quarters of all hatchery production in the Central Valley drainage undergoes trucking and net pen acclimation each year.  Fishing and Angling Enhancement A different use of floating net pens as part of salmon culture has been funded through the Salmon Stamp Program in recent years at two coastal sites south of the Golden Gate. These projects are undertaken in drainages where chinook salmon never, or rarely, spawned historically. The intent of the projects was simply to make more chinook salmon available for south coast commercial fishermen and sport anglers to catch. There is no pretense of establishing runs in waters where chinook salmon have not naturally occurred. The projects, one in Monterey Bay and another in Avila Beach, receive young salmon that are excess to hatchery production needs in years when salmon hatcheries in the Central Valley have abundant returns. Following introduction into these pens, located in salt water near the ocean, the hatchery-produced salmon are held for several days or weeks and released. A short description of the two projects follows on the next page. Loaded pens are being escorted to a release site as the juvenal fish become acclimated to the salt water