The discovery of a 24-inch fish, believed to be a Chinook salmon, in a creek along Berkeley’s northern border with Albany, has inspired a ripple of excitement in the community.

The large fish was seen at least twice this week in Codornices Creek, which runs from the North Berkeley hills, through the city and down along the southern border of University Village, north of Harrison Street. A creek restoration project has been going on since the 1990s in the area, west of Ninth Street, to help with flood control, form a more meandering bed, and improve habitat for fish and other wildlife.

(Fishing is forbidden in the creek throughout the year.)

Seeing a fish this size in such a small creek, said fisheries biologist Jeff Hagar, is “pretty rare” and “very unusual.” … Continue reading »