The spawning chinook salmon are at the end of their life cycle
and would die in the river after laying their eggs. At the
Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery in San Joaquin County, the eggs
are being harvested by humans. Fish and Game officer Andrew
Hughan says the dead fish don't go to waste. HUGHAN: "These fish
are 100 percent recycled and all of the meat is taken out and 50
percent is given to Native American tribes and 50 percent is
given to Northern California food banks." After several years of
low counts, the numbers are up...at Nimbus, 10,000 salmon, and
another 5,000 at Mokelumne will provide food for the needy, and
the eggs more fish for the future. HUGHAN: "We raise
approximately 40 million individual chinook salmon across the
state to keep the hatcheries going and to improve the salmon run
every year." The salmon run continues through December.