CHICO – State Department of Fish and Game crews have rounded up more than 300 stray salmon and returned them to their rightful spawning path.

The migrating spring-run salmon are supposed to swim up Butte Creek Canyon to find cold water in which to spawn in the fall.

But the threatened fish got stuck in two pools just west of Highway 99. Rescue crews on Wednesday used nets to capture the fish one-by-one and drive them to the canyon.

Department of Fish and Game officials say the cold water fish probably would have died in the pools when the water got too warm.

Authorities say they rescued the fish because there are fewer salmon returning to the Central Valley this year.

Information from: Chico Enterprise-Record, www.chicoer.com