California is buying more fish traps to count migrating salmon

California is buying more rotary screw traps, which are devices used to catch and count migrating fish. This means scientists will have more data on how many young salmon are moving through key rivers.

Counting fish is a basic part of managing fisheries and understanding ecosystem health. More traps mean more data points, which can reveal trends in fish populations that might otherwise go unnoticed. This kind of granular data is essential for deciding where to focus conservation efforts or how to manage water resources.