Good year for Idaho sockeye salmon

Regular salmon

Biologists keeping track of the sockeye salmon populations in central Idaho (Sawtooth Mountains) have good news to report. More sockeye than in any other year in the last two decades have made their way pass the eight dams on the Columbia and Snake rivers and returned to idaho. 507 fish have been counted so far. That might not sound much but considering that the number has been in the single digits each of the last five years and that only 16 wild sockeye returned between 1991 and 1998 it is a large improvement. It might however be too early to start celebrating as 257 sockeye returned in 2000 followed by a number of bad years.

The improvement is believed to be due to the fact that 180,000 smolts were released in Idaho lakes in 2006. Some of the returning fish are likely artificially spawned at the Eagle Fish Hatchery in Southwestern Idaho as part of a program to help boost the sockeye populations around the Sawtooth Mountains.

The 507 returning fish might be a better number than in many years but it is still no where near the historical levels of Sockeye salmon that once wandered the 900 miles from the Pacific Ocean to Idaho lakes like Redfish, Pettit and Alturas. As many as 35,000 sockeye used to return each year. The population decline is believed to be primarily due to four dams along the lower Snake River in Eastern Washington.