Idaho Fish and Game on Thursday, March 30 transported about 4,000 adult sockeye salmon from its Eagle Fish Hatchery to its sockeye hatchery at Springfield to ensure the fish remain protected if there’s flooding at the Eagle hatchery.
The Boise River is running at flood stage and there was heavy rain as crews moved the fish. There's also a large snowpack that will be melting soon, and no one knows how high the river will reach in the coming weeks.
“It’s not a matter of minimizing risk, it’s eliminating it,” said Gary Byrne, Fish and Game’s fish production manager.
The relocated adult sockeye are “captive broodstock” that have been reared at the Eagle Fish Hatchery for spawning and increasing the Snake River sockeye salmon population. Because Fish and Game officials never know how many adult sockeye will return from the ocean, these fish are an insurance policy against poor returns, and also serve as a genetic bank to safeguard against natural catastrophes.
Byrne expects no problems with F&G crews transporting the fish to Springfield.
“These guys are pros,” he said. “They’ve brought adult sockeye all the way from western Washington to Redfish Lake for release."
The Springfield Fish Hatchery near Aberdeen is dedicated solely to sockeye production. Hundreds of thousands of juveniles are being raised at the hatchery for eventual release below Redfish Lake near Stanley, and there’s room for the adults there as well. The Springfield Fish Hatchery was completed in 2013 and is expected to produce a million sockeye smolts for release in 2018.
“We have the capacity, so we’re going to use it,” Byrne said. “We’re lucky to have a new, beautiful, dedicated hatchery for sockeye at Springfield.”
The fish will stay at Springfield until the Eagle Fish Hatchery is safe for their return.
“We won’t be spawning until October, and we will bring them back when we feel the risk is minimal,” Byrne said.
Officials at Eagle Fish Hatchery have been watching the Boise River rise to flood stage, especially the south channel adjacent to the hatchery. Crews put up sandbags at the hatchery to protect the property, but didn’t want to risk possible flooding that could shut off power, or possibly contaminate wells that feed water to the tanks where sockeye are held.
Snake River sockeye salmon are protected under the Endangered Species Act. In 2016, 567 sockeye returned to the Sawtooth Valley, slightly below the 10-year average of 664 fish, but a huge improvement over previous decades.
In 1992, a single sockeye dubbed “Lonesome Larry” was the only fish to return to Redfish Lake. He was one of the adult sockeye that were used along with juveniles used to help jump start the recovery of Idaho’s sockeye salmon.
Here's more information about the sockeye transfer: