Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery Manager Bill Smith shows off one of the larger Chinook salmon that returned to the hatchery as touring school groups look on.
One San Joaquin County fish hatchery is seeing near-record returns of Chinook salmon this season.
The Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery is expected to break the 2011 record of 18,000 salmon, according to a California Department of Fish and Wildlife Facebook post. The hatchery has already seen the return of 15,000 fish – with many more on the way.