The endangered Delta smelt population has made strides to recovery, nearly doubling in population over the past year, according to California Department of Fish and Game officials. That population increase, however, represents a small percentage of its historical population, according to a Wednesday DFG press release. Since counting the fish to find exact numbers would be nearly impossible, DFG collects smaller samples and counts the number of fish in the samples to get an indication of the larger population. The average number of young Delta smelt per sample doubled from 3.8 last year to 8.0 this year, but is a far cry from the height of 39.7 in 1999. Adult Delta smelt also doubled th

The first of about 3 million young salmon were released into the American River Thursday, and California Department of Fish and Game officials said they will finish the job Friday. They hope those fish will return to spawn within two to five years. “They were spawned, hatched and partially raised at the Nimbus Fish Hatchery in Rancho Cordova,” said Dana Michaels, information officer for the Department of Fish and Game. About 25 percent of them have coded wire tags in their noses so Fish and Game staff will be able to track how many of them are returning to their native grounds to spawn. The goal, Michaels said, is to return the number of fish to their natural levels – levels that have d

With Sacramento's proximity to both the Sacramento and American Rivers and the abundance of fishermen in both locations, many Sacramentans look no further than the river system to fulfill their fishing needs. However, this would be a mistake - one that the Department of Fish and Game's Fishing in the City program is trying to correct. The Fishing in the City program stocks fishing ponds in cities throughout California, focusing on parks in the San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento areas. Although workers stock multiple ponds in the Sacramento region, the only two ponds in central Sacramento that are refilled fairly regularly are Southside Park and William Land Park. These ponds are st

Laughter, awe and high-pitched squeals of excitement made the 21st annual State Scientist Day seem more like a carnival than a day of teaching science lessons and experiments to more than 2,000 elementary school students.  However, education is exactly what was taking place.   The California Association of Professional Scientists (CAPS) sponsored the event on Thursday on the west steps of the Capitol. Third and sixth graders from about 30 elementary schools showed up to participate in hands-on science experiments teaching them about conservation, plants, oil spills and other earth-related and science lessons.   "This is our way of giving back to the community... especially now, schools a