Salmon on the Middlefork Salmon River

The short answer is yes.  Idaho Department of Fish and Game has a long history of monitoring chinook salmon returns to the Middle Fork Salmon River and its tributaries.  In 2014 we estimated 2,607 wild chinook salmon spawned in the Middle Fork Salmon drainage. The longer answer is  standardized counting began in the 1950's with biologists counting chinook salmon redds (the nests salmon make in the bottom of the stream) from airplanes and helicopters.  From those early counts we develop estimates of spawning escapement to specific populations within the Middle Fork Salmon drainage.  Most recently the monitoring has been a collaborative effort between Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, the Nez Perce Tribe and the U.S. Forest Service's Rocky Mountian Research Station.  Most of the data for individual populations will be available shortly on the Follow Idaho Salmon Home website linked here http://216.206.157.62/idaho/web/apps/index_main.php We are in the process of updating the website with the most current data.   Thanks for your interest in Idaho's Wild Salmon!   Lance Program Coordinator for Endangered Steelhead and Salmon