In a remote section of campus west of Highway 113, Matthew Stone and a few students are looking after the well-being of thousands of fish at the UC Davis Center for Aquatic Biology and Aquaculture. Stone is the assistant facilities manager at CABA.

“We have quite a large number of fish that we’re trying to take care of and they all have different needs that we need to address,” he said. “These are things we simply cannot skip over during a time like this.”

The numerous fish tanks located at the five-acre facility need to be cleaned every day and, of course, the fish need to be fed every day as well. About 15 species—including sturgeon, salmon, trout, and smelt—are under study at any one time.

But not all of the fish are there for research. There are also more than 100 Koi fish rescued from homes burned in the Camp Fire in 2018 and the wine country wildfires in 2017. Read about the wine country Koi refugees here.

CABA and its aquatic research facilities provide the basic infrastructure that enables scientists to study problems associated with both cultured and wild aquatic resources. Research activities provide the scientific base to sustain California’s natural populations of aquatic species, and also support work on aquaculture industries.