SANTA FE - Beginning Thursday, Oct. 24, anglers will be allowed to catch and keep unlimited numbers of fish from a two-mile stretch of the Santa Fe River as the City of Santa Fe prepares to stop the flow from city reservoirs. The Department of Game and Fish issued the official emergency salvage order, to go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Oct. 24, and remain in effect through 11:59 p.m. Friday, Nov. 1.

The salvage order will affect only the section of river from Paseo de Peralta two miles downstream to Camino Alire.

Tackle regulations also will be suspended during the salvage period for fish to be removed from the Santa Fe River, and appropriate fish salvage methods can be found at the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish website: http://www.wildlife.state.nm.us/recreation/fishing/index.html. Anglers ages 12 and older are required to have a state fishing license.

The salvage order will allow anglers to remove trout from the Santa Fe River before it runs dry. The Department stocked more than 500 trout in the river this fall to provide angling opportunities during the highly successful Children's Fishing Derby. People have caught most of those fish, but some may remain, mostly in the stretch of river downstream from the Paseo de Peralta bridge.