Santa Cruz County hatchery receives funds from local cannabis tax ahead of salmon season

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (KION-TV) -- A nearly $4 million state cannabis tax grant is funding something you might not expect: salmon conservation.

"Our mission is to provide funding for restoration projects. And typically, that looks like cleaning up, restoring and remediating areas that have been damaged, environmentally speaking, from cannabis cultivation," California California Dept. of Fish & Wildlife Cannabis Program Director Amerlia Wright said.

That money is going to the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project, which runs the Kingfisher Flat Conservation Hatchery.

"This is an important project, for us, because we know that cannabis cultivation in the state of california has had an impact on watersheds and the species that depend on it for survival. Salmon have been one of them," Wright said. "Cannabis cultivation is a stressor on the environment that really limits the species from being able to proliferate."

This led to an effort to restore ecosystems damaged by illegal cannabis grows and other ecological threats.

"The environment has endured from cannabis cultivation within California, but also, ongoing, illicit cultivation continues to be a problem within the state of California, and therefore our species continues to be at risk," Wright said.

The hatchery has another challenge. It was hit hard during the CZU Lightning Complex fire, losing outdoor rearing tanks, access bridges, and key equipment.

Now, this cannabis grant is helping with infrastructure repairs, too

"It's this particular grant also has an outreach element and a tribal component, an access component, meaning, structural improvements to the site," Wright said."

Now, the hatchery can also continue education, outreach, and monitoring programs.

"The funding provides support for our now to be able to hire staff, to cover salary, wages and benefits and all their needs to be able to address the environmental impacts of cannabis cultivation," Wright said.

In a statement to California Fish and Wildlife, the hatchery said this funding helps keep a critical conservation effort going and could prevent Coho salmon from disappearing south of the bay.