Record Number of Sockeye Counted at Lower Granite Dam

On Thursday July 24, the number of sockeye salmon passing Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River set a new record at 2,270. This is the most sockeye salmon counted at Lower Granite since the dam was built in 1975. As of Sunday July 27, that number had risen to 2,456, and with dozens of sockeye coming through each day, it will continue to rise. At the same time, the first adult sockeye of 2014 are arriving in the upper reaches of the Salmon River in the Sawtooth Valley of Idaho. As of Monday July 28, Fish and Game has trapped 25 sockeye, 24 in the trap on Redfish Lake Creek, and one in the Sawtooth Hatchery. While these numbers pale in comparison to the tens of thousands of sockeye that lead to the name of Redfish Lake, they demonstrate a remarkable improvement from 1990, when not one single Sockeye was observed passing Lower Granite Dam. In 1991 Snake River Sockeye Salmon were listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. From 1988 to 1999 the number of sockeye returning to the Sawtooth Valley was in the single digits. During nine of those eleven years, the number was zero or one, including 1992, when then Governor Cecil Andrus named "Lonesome Larry" a single male sockeye that was trapped on Redfish Lake Creek. It was during this time that Idaho Fish and Game joined a multi-agency and tribal effort to save Snake River Sockeye from extinction. This year's record return is due in large part to a captive brood stock program begun in 1991 that is managed by Idaho Fish and Game and largely financed by Bonneville Power Administration. The program has kept the fish's genetics intact while numbers of returning sockeye have slowly increased. The program produces eggs and juvenile fish (smolts) which are reintroduced to their habitat in the Sawtooth Mountains in a variety of ways. The number of smolts will increase dramatically with the addition of the Springfield Fish Hatchery near American Falls. By 2017 Fish and Game expects to release 1 million sockeye smolts.