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Rice Fields for Fry

Aptly named the Nigiri project, after the fish and rice sushi combo, the experiment has run the last four years in cooperation between the California Departments of Fish and Wildlife and Water Resources, University of California Davis, California Trout, US Bureau of Reclamation and NOAA.  The program is based at the Knaggs Ranch in California’s Yolo County, on the Sacramento River flood plain.

Jacob Katz who works with California Trout and is the manager of the Nigiri project says that his graduate studies showed him that more than three quarters of the fish species in California, including the four Chinook runs are in serious decline.  “…Headed towards extinction if something wasn’t done,” says Katz by phone.

The solution, says Katz, “are fundamental changes in the way water flows across the California landscape.”   He adds that we place a lot of emphasis on salmon habitat and spawning and less on how the small fish behave and survive…

Read the full article here.

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