Warm-water threat forces hatcheries to move fish

For the second year in a row, managers at two state fish hatcheries below Folsom Dam say the threat of fatally warm water in August and September has again left them no choice but to move fish.

Nimbus Hatchery is moving about 330,000 young steelhead to the Feather River Hatchery Annex, where the water is colder.

Brown and rainbow trout at American River Hatchery also are being stocked into state lakes and rivers much earlier than they normally would to keep them from dying in the increasingly warm river water that supplies hatchery holding ponds.

“They’re looking ahead and saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got to get these fish out of here,’” said Harry Morse, a spokesman for the Department of Fish and Wildlife, which runs the hatcheries.

This story was originally published June 26, 2015 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Warm-water threat forces hatcheries to move fish."