Steelheads waiting for a snack…

Last month, I had the pleasure of spending the weekend in Sacramento with friends, and one suggested we go visit a nearby (and free!) trout and salmon hatchery. We’re all huge fish fans, so we jumped at the chance and soon found ourselves at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery. 

You may be wondering what the Nimbus Fish Hatchery does and why it’s so special. After arriving, we found out that this facility performs a crucial service for California’s river ecosystems: native fish conservation! This hatchery raises and releases steelhead trout and Chinook salmon, which are both anadromous species, meaning they migrate up from the sea to rivers for spawning. Their migration upstream, however, can be cut off by structures like the Nimbus and Folsom Dams currently on the American River, greatly limiting access to historical spawning areas and impacting their populations. When dam construction was completed in 1955, the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation worked with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to design and build the Nimbus Hatchery, which now raises and releases 4 million Chinook salmon and 430,000 steelhead trout annually. Its months of peak operation are early November through mid-December (fall salmon run) and January through February (winter steelhead run).

The American River flowing next to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery

Though we didn’t visit during peak season, we were still able to see how fish get from the adjacent American River to the facility. The fishes’ urge to swim upstream draws them to a “fish ladder,” a series of small pools arranged like steps that they use to leap progressively upwards until they reach the holding pond. From there, hatchery workers pick out fish ready to spawn and collect their eggs and sperm. Steelheads are then returned to the river, but since Chinook salmon always die after spawning, they are taken for processing and any resulting edible meat is donated to California food banks, adding up to over 20,000 pounds a year!

Educational signage explaining how the fish ladder works

Moving away from the river, we found many raceway ponds holding the salmon and steelhead that were too young to release, and they were extremely charming. We got a 25-cent cup of fish food for the larger fish, and each pellet dropped was answered with a wild chorus of splashes and tail-slaps.

Large replica steelhead and salmon fish heads

Spinning the Salmon survival wheel

Then we entered the visitors center, which was chock-full of creative, interactive exhibits about fish biology, hatchery operations, and conserving California river ecosystems. We tried on some steelhead and salmon heads for size, looked in on the Spawning Deck, and measured ourselves up to the largest salmon that ever lived. We could even spin a big wheel to find out if we would survive as salmon; alas, none of us reached adulthood, as our poor theoretical salmon selves got eaten by diving ducks or got lost in cross-currents from Delta pumping. We weren’t particularly unlucky, though, since every result was a fishy funeral, and the single “win” condition was managing to reproduce before dying. Yeesh. Regardless, this interactive display illustrated the many natural and human-sourced threats to salmon survival and made us appreciate the conservation work done at Nimbus even more. 

Looking back on this day, I have one recommendation to readers: if you’re ever near Sacramento and feeling fishy (in a good way), head on down to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery and make some fin-tastic new friends!