"Millions of Salmon Begin Migration — By Truck"

"SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Wildlife officials on Tuesday formally launched a massive trucking operation to move 30 million Sacramento River salmon toward the sea to help the fish avoid harmful river conditions caused by drought.

The day of hauling Tuesday involved about 400,000 juvenile salmon, each about 3 inches long, from the Coleman National Fish Hatchery near Red Bluff, Calif. They were hauled in three climate-controlled tanker trucks and released into floating net pens in the Sacramento River in Rio Vista, Calif.

It was just the first of about 240 such truck trips expected in the next 10 weeks from five state and federal salmon hatcheries in the Central Valley. Officials said the operating is unprecedented: They could not recall another time when so many juvenile salmon were transported by truck in such a short period of time."

Matt Weiser reports for the Sacramento Bee March 25, 2014.