Nimbus Fish Hatchery to Drastically Reduce Salmon Releases
October 13, 2025 | 1 min to read
Nimbus Fish Hatchery will cut releases from about 4–4.5 million young salmon and 430,000 yearling steelhead to roughly half those numbers due to rising costs and limited federal funding, an unprecedented reduction for the facility created to mitigate Nimbus Dam impacts. California officials say hatchery expenses have climbed over five years while federal contributions lag, threatening efforts to sustain key salmon and steelhead populations.
Nimbus Fish Hatchery releases around 4 to 4.5 million young salmon and 430,000 yearling steelhead into California waterways annually. But due to rising costs and limited federal funding, the hatchery is planning to release half of both numbers, which is unprecedented.
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation funds the hatchery, which was originally created to mitigate the impacts of Nimbus Dam on steelhead and salmon runs. Fish raised in hatcheries like this one are key to keeping their populations alive in California.
Colin Purdy, a fisheries environmental program manager with California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife, says the Nimbus hatchery’s costs have risen steadily over the last five years. Usually, he says the state would negotiate for more funding for the hatchery. But this year, he says federal officials aren’t offering enough funding to keep up.
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