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Idaho Sockeye Numbers Cause for Hope by Associated Press Capital Press, June 23, 2010

LEWISTON, Idaho -- Idaho Department of Fish and Game officials say the state could see higher numbers of endangered Snake River sockeye salmon returning this year.

Numbers of the fish have been trending sharply upward, with 833 returning to the Stanley Basin last year. Jeff Heindel, conservation hatcheries supervisor for the department in Boise, told the Capital Press that mark could be exceeded this year and he expects returns of between 500 to 1,000 fish annually over the next few years.

Idaho is currently borrowing hatchery space throughout the basin to produce 200,000 sockeye smolts each year. Heindel says that could change soon -- the Bonneville Power Administration is in the process of purchasing a hatchery site at Springfield, Idaho near the American Falls reservoir. He says the hatchery could produce as many as 1 million smolts per year, with production starting as soon as 2012.

Snake River sockeye were listed as endangered in 1993, and only 16 sockeye returned to their spawning grounds in the shadow of the Sawtooth Mountains throughout the 1990s. As late as 2003, only 14 sockeye were counted passing the Lower Granite dam and just three made it to the Stanley Basin.

Snake River sockeye were listed as endangered in 1993, and only 16 sockeye returned to their spawning grounds in the shadow of the Sawtooth Mountains throughout the 1990s. As late as 2003, only 14 sockeye were counted passing the Lower Granite dam and just three made it to the Stanley Basin.

But the runs started to increase as ocean conditions improved and Idaho increased hatchery efforts. In 2008, about 650 sockeye returned to their spawning grounds.

"We are at the point we are ready to jump out of the museum work and rather than preventing the extinction of this species we are really ready to take the next step in the recovery of these fish to Idaho," Heindel said.

This year's sockeye run has been pouring over Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River. So far, more than 108,000 sockeye have been counted at the dam, with more than 26,000 passing the checkpoint on Tuesday alone. Cindy LaFleur with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife said the Columbia River sockeye run could double the preseason prediction of 125,000.

Most of those fish are bound to the Okanogan River in Washington, but a portion will go to the Snake River.