Yuba River Salmon Return Numbers: September – November 2025

This year, Chinook salmon returns are the highest they’ve been in a decade. 

At the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL), we track Chinook salmon returns closely because healthy populations of this keystone species are a key indicator of a thriving river ecosystem. Through SYRCL’s participation in the River Management Team (RMT), our staff receives monthly updates on the number of Chinook and steelhead adults utilizing the fish ladders at Daguerre Point Dam. This information is collected using VAKI River Watcher camera systems installed in the North and South ladders, which snap a photo every time a fish swims past it. 

For 2025, we have seen more Chinook salmon than in the past 10 years: 6198 adults and counting.  

Also exciting is that many of the salmon-bearing streams throughout California are seeing similar results. 

There are numerous factors that contribute to whether the return of spawning adults is large or small in a given year. A big factor is how wet or dry the previous years have been. Other important factors include availability of healthy food sources while they spend 2-3 years in the ocean and the intensity of pressure from predators. One thing we also know that gives juvenile salmon a leg up in their survival is the availability of floodplain rearing habitat after they hatch. Which is why the numbers this year are so exciting – this is the first time we are seeing returning adults who grew up on our Lower Long Bar project the first year it was built.  

During the first half of the “salmon year” (March-August) the fish are likely spring-run Chinook, a threatened strain of Central Valley Chinook, based on their summer migration behavior. The California Department of Water Resources conducts redd monitoring throughout the Yuba and counted over 100 spring-run redds at our Rose Bar project, representing a 45-fold increase from pre-project conditions. 

SYRCL’s salmon restoration work restores the crucial floodplain habitat so that juvenile salmon can spend time on it regardless of water-year type. In the wet years we’ve seen recently, juveniles have more than 40 acres of accessible habitat above Daguerre Point Dam and more than 100 acres below it, thanks to SYRCL and our restoration partners’ work. And, more importantly, during the dry years we will inevitably see in the future, our restoration projects will continue to provide additional rearing habitat that wouldn’t have existed without our work.  

While all these numbers are encouraging, salmon recovery is far from finished. These fish still face climate-driven challenges: warming water temperatures, reduced snowpack, and unpredictable ocean conditions. The floodplain habitat we’ve restored helps, but it’s only the beginning. SYRCL continues to plan new restoration projects, monitor fish populations, advocate for policies that protect cold water flows, and collaborate with partners across the watershed to ensure salmon have what they need to survive. 

You can be a part of the next chapter of salmon recovery in the Yuba. Become a SYRCL member. Or contribute to our Year-End Matching Gift. Join us and together we can invest in the work that keeps the salmon coming home.