Idaho Sockeye Salmon Heading Home

The first of Idaho's 2001 run of red fish have been spotted on their way home. Fisheries research biologist Lance Hebdon reported that more than a dozen sockeye salmon had been counted passing Lower Granite Dam, the last dam in the sockeyes' journey back to Idaho. Hebdon estimated that as many as 35 adults could return to the Stanley Basin in 2001. Sockeye are expected to pass Lower Granite Dam from late June through the end of August. In 1991, Idaho Department of Fish and Game and several cooperators began a rare captive broodstock program and later that year, Idaho sockeye were placed on the federal endangered species list. In the captive broodstock program, juvenile sockeye are reared to adulthood in captivity, bypassing the high mortality which occurs during the smolt migration to the ocean. The captive adults are then spawned and their progeny are released for a natural smolt migration to the ocean. In the 10-year history of the program, considerable effort has been placed on maintaining the existing genetic diversity of the small population. Following strict spawning protocols, juveniles are produced annually for reintroduction to native waters or to meet future broodstock spawning needs. To date, more than 418 adults, 296,000 eyed-eggs, 617,000 presmolts, and 106,000 smolts have been planted to lakes of the Stanley Basin. The first program-produced adults returned to Idaho in 1999. In that year, six males and one female made the journey home. Last year, 257 hatchery-produced sockeye returned to spawn. In 1999, an estimated 49,000 sockeye salmon smolts left the Stanley Basin enroute to the ocean. The fish enroute to Idaho this year are most likely from that group of outmigrants. Hebdon said adults that return this year would be split between release into Stanley Basin lakes and the hatchery breeding program. Additional captive adults, produced by the hatchery, will also be available to release into the lakes. The sockeye recovery program is a cooperative effort with IDFG, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the University of Idaho sharing responsibilities. All project components are funded by the Bonneville Power Administration.