State fish and wildlife officials are studying a new way of transporting hatchery salmon that are intended to repopulate the Sacramento River system, a newspaper reported.

About 100,000 Chinook salmon have been taken to San Francisco Bay, where they were released, in water actually from the Sacramento River, The San Mateo County Times reported this week (http://bit.ly/12h3faP).

The theory being tested is that the fish will develop a memory of the water’s chemical makeup that will improve their ability to get to the river from the bay to spawn.

Fish and Wildlife biologists have raised concerns that too many hatchery fish are straying and not returning to the river.

The experiment could help boost salmon populations and impact how hatcheries release the fish, the newspaper reported.

“We’re hoping that this is the way of the future,” said Andrew Hughan, a Fish and Wildlife spokesman.