audio, stills, text and or video: Go to http://www.zReportage.com to see more - With a swish of its tail, a salmon jumps more than 20 steps - one at a time - to the top of the Nimbus Fish Hatchery ladder Monday as the annual fall migration takes place. The Chinook salmon run is an annual spectacle on the American River as the giant fish return each fall from the ocean to spawn. This year, the run that continues into December should be noteworthy, because the salmon population is expected to rebound significantly from recent lows. Once they make their way up the Nimbus Fish Hatchery ladder, the salmon are sorted and spawned on a table. An average salmon female has more than 5,000 eggs. The eggs are housed in the spawning building and the fish are raised until they are 4 to 6 inches long before being released. Since 1958, the Nimbus Fish Hatchery has been successfully providing mitigation for the loss of natural fish habitat in conjunction with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Department of Fish and Game and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. The Hatchery exists to atone for the loss of upstream salmon habitat caused by construction of Folsom and Nimbus dams in the 1950s. Although many salmon still spawn naturally in the American River below the dams, hatchery-raised salmon make up most of the river's production.
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Sept. 18, 2011 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Spiritual offerings float downstream following the 'Calling Back the Salmon Celebration' at McBean Park in Lincoln. People from the local community gather at the river to call back the salmon.
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Sept. 18, 2011 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - A woman carries a spiritual offering of water and leaves as part of the 'Calling Back the Salmon Celebration' at McBean Park.
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Sept. 18, 2011 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - TYRONE GORRE conducts a spiritually symbolic ceremony near the water during the 'Calling Back the Salmon Celebration' at McBean Park in Lincoln.
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Dec. 21, 2011 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Salmon hatch from eggs in a large jar at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery in Rancho Cordova. This year's fall salmon run has been a bonanza compared to recent poor years. The three largest hatcheries in the Sacramento Valley, including Nimbus on the American River, took in more than twice as many salmon as last year. It's a promising reversal from near devastation just three years ago.
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Sept. 27, 2012 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Workers, foreground, separate out any spring run chinook salmon which are saved for their eggs leaving only fall run salmon which are culled and donated to a local food bank. In an effort to restore genetic diversity to salmon runs, the Feather River hatchery this week has been killing thousands of salmon without breeding them.
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Sept. 27, 2012 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Culled chinook salmon will be donated to a local Oroville food bank.
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Sept. 27, 2012 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Any tagged salmon - with the exception of a spring run salmon - have their heads removed which are sent to the lab for testing.
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Oct. 4, 2012 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Mature Kokanee salmon spawn along Taylor Creek near Lake Tahoe. The state Dept. of Forestry has been tearing down beaver dams in the Lake Tahoe area to ease passage for coho salmon. Beavers use such dams to store food for winter, so their destruction puts the beavers' future in peril.
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Nov. 12, 2012 - Folsom, California, U.S. - Salmon jump at the gate of the Nimbus fish hatchery in Gold River.
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That the fish grow bigger and faster when they bypass floods, because they can access insect blooms triggered by the inundation.
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Feb. 19, 2013 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Department of Water Resources biologists prepare to insert tiny monitors into small salmon near Woodland.
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April 3, 2013 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - A researcher for the Center for Watershed Sciences holds two salmon at Knaggs Ranch in the Yolo Bypass near Woodland. Salmon planted in the bypass six weeks ago were the size of the small fish, while the large fish is typical of their size today.
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April 3, 2013 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - JACOB KATZ nets several young salmon from a pen called a 'Live Car' at Knaggs Ranch in the Yolo Bypass near Woodland.
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May 7, 2013 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Thousands of chinook salmon smolts are dumped into the water at Discovery Park. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) released three million young Chinook salmon, or smolts, near the mouth of the American River on May 6 and 7.
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May 7, 2013 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Scientific Aid JUSTIN MATHER corrals thousands of chinook salmon smolts into a holding tank at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery.
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May 7, 2013 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Thousands of chinook salmon smolts are dumped into the water at Discovery Park.
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Sept. 6, 2013 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - City of Sacramento workers using heavy equipment work to improve the stream bed along the American River near River Bend Park. The project involves spreading gravel in the riverbed so migrating wild Chinook salmon have more room to create ''redds'', or nests for their eggs.
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Oct. 7, 2013 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - TOM FOX of south Natomas prepares to cast his line while fishing for salmon at the confluence of the Sacramento and American Rivers. ''It's relaxing,'' says Fox, while standing in knee deep water. ''The only thing that matters is what's striking on the end of my pole.
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Oct. 15, 2013 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - Fisherman line up in hopes of catching a salmon in the American River just downstream of the H Street bridge. Early fall color is visible throughout the Sacramento region as cool morning temperatures help change the color of the leaves.
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Nov. 4, 2013 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - A salmon makes its way up the salmon ladder at Nimbus Hatchery in Rancho Cordova, signaling the start of the spawning season on the American River.
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Feb. 19, 2013 - Sacramento, California, U.S. - UC Davis wildlife biologists MIRANDA TILCOCK, left, and NICK CORLINE carry a cooler full of small salmon into a flooded rice field near Woodland.
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