Nigiri Project Rears Juvenile Chinook Salmon in Winter-Flooded Rice Fields
A fisheries research project using winter-flooded California rice fields as a nursery for juvenile Chinook salmon is being hailed for its potential to reverse the drastic decline of this economically and culturally important fish over the past century.
The Nigiri Project, which has been ongoing since 2011, takes its name from the sushi-like marriage of fish and rice. Nigiri sushi is a Japanese dish made with sushi rice hand formed into a small clump and capped with a layer of fish.
The project is a collaborative effort of the University of California, Davis Center for Watershed Sciences, the California Department of Water Resources and California Trout, a 50-year-old nonprofit organization whose mission is to protect and restore wild trout, steelhead, salmon and their waters throughout...