91 percent of Butte Creek spring-run Chinook salmon died before spawning in 2021
A record run of wild spring run Chinook salmon on a Sacramento River tributary turned into a disaster when the majority of fish perished before spawning last year. In May, the CDFW published a monitoring report on 2021’s spring Chinook salmon run on Butte Creek, a Sacramento River tributary, revealing that 91 percent of the adult fish died before spawning. … An estimated 19,773 out of the over 21,580 fish total that returned to spawn in the Butte County stream perished before spawning. Only an estimated 1,807 adults survived to spawn in a year with a record return of fish. … The fish perished from disease in the crowded, warm water conditions on the creek …