Endangered Sockeye Return to Idaho

Two sockeye salmon have returned to their spawning grounds in the shadows of the Sawtooth Mountains. Employees of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game discovered the first Redfish Lake sockeye of 2005 in the trap in Redfish Lake Creek on Friday August 5. The second fish was trapped the following Monday. Data from the Fish Passage Center show that only 16 sockeye salmon have passed the four dams on the lower Snake River on their migration to Idaho as of August 8, 2005. That compares to 63,461 sockeye that passed through all four dams on the Columbia River, downstream from the Snake River, as of the same date. Redfish Lake sockeye are unique to the Pacific Northwest. They migrate farther than any other, traveling more than 900 miles from the Pacific Ocean to Redfish Lake near Stanley, Idaho. At nearly 7,000 feet above sea level, the Stanley Basin is the highest elevation to which any sockeye salmon return. Redfish Lake sockeye are also the southern-most spawning population of sockeye salmon in the world. Biologists with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game have been working with other state, federal and tribal entities to preserve this unique species since it was listed as endangered in 1991. The two fish that have returned to Redfish Lake Creek so far in the summer of 2005 represent a precious resource needed for that preservation. These and any other sockeye returning to the trap will be cared for at the Eagle Fish Hatchery. Scientists at the University of Idaho will use DNA from the fish to determine their genetic history. With that vital information in hand, biologists at the Eagle hatchery will use the sockeye to spawn future generations, while ensuring the maximum genetic diversity of this endangered stock.