Biologists say that so far, fish counts have been very low—in some cases, a third of what they saw at this time last year.
The second and third weeks of November are traditionally peak spawning seasons on the Stanislaus, Tuolumne and Merced rivers in the San Joaquin Valley.
"So far, the numbers are very low," said Tim Ford, an aquatic biologist with the Turlock and Modesto irrigation districts. "There's no way to know for sure, but right now, it looks like it could be a bad year."
For example, just 205 chinook were counted on the Stanislaus River by Oct. 30. By comparison, 996 were counted by the same date last year in the same spot.
Preliminary salmon counts also are showing fewer fish swimming up Northern Sierra Nevada rivers like the Sacramento, American and Feather.
Experts believe changing weather and water temperatures, including warmer water in the northern Pacific Ocean, could be behind the apparent decline.
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Information from: The Modesto Bee, http://www.modbee.com