05-02-2009, 03:55 PM
I don't think Idaho ever really had significant runs of Pink, Chum, or Coho salmon. I think it's just too far for them. I don't know the river miles to the Cw tribs right off the top of my head, but I know that Riggins is 600 and change, and Stanley and the Sawtooth hatchery are 900 and change. I think that is just too far for those species.
Now Idaho did historically have an exceptional run of Sockeye, that made the full trek to Redfish Lake near Stanley (hence the name). I can't speak for how much effort they put into recovering those fish, but I guess it wasn't enough.
The department head and some people from USU have conducted some published studies on those fish dealing with how large the smolts are when they head downriver. It was a theory that since Redfish Lake had become more Oligotrophic (clearer = less algae = less zooplankton, which the young fish feed on) than in the years that the runs were strong. So perhaps we couldn't get good returns because the fish weren't as large heading down the river to the ocean, and as a result were having less success surviving the trek downriver.
The largest documented dam passage (1200 and change) is at Ice Harbor back in the mid 60's when it was the only dam on the lower Snake. However, last year we had a little over 900 cross LG, which is the largest return we have had since the 60's and maybe early 70's. The good news is that IF&G had just completed a new facility dedicated entirely to Sockeye salmon, and that large return of fish was transferred there for processing. Hopefully they are going to start putting a little more focus into recovering those fish, and the combination of a new facility, and a large return of fish will provide a good foundation for doing so.
As a side note, one year back in the 90's only 1 fish returned to the Stanley basin. They called him Lonesome Larry, and froze his sperm for the fish that would (hopefully) return the next year. [cool]
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Now Idaho did historically have an exceptional run of Sockeye, that made the full trek to Redfish Lake near Stanley (hence the name). I can't speak for how much effort they put into recovering those fish, but I guess it wasn't enough.
The department head and some people from USU have conducted some published studies on those fish dealing with how large the smolts are when they head downriver. It was a theory that since Redfish Lake had become more Oligotrophic (clearer = less algae = less zooplankton, which the young fish feed on) than in the years that the runs were strong. So perhaps we couldn't get good returns because the fish weren't as large heading down the river to the ocean, and as a result were having less success surviving the trek downriver.
The largest documented dam passage (1200 and change) is at Ice Harbor back in the mid 60's when it was the only dam on the lower Snake. However, last year we had a little over 900 cross LG, which is the largest return we have had since the 60's and maybe early 70's. The good news is that IF&G had just completed a new facility dedicated entirely to Sockeye salmon, and that large return of fish was transferred there for processing. Hopefully they are going to start putting a little more focus into recovering those fish, and the combination of a new facility, and a large return of fish will provide a good foundation for doing so.
As a side note, one year back in the 90's only 1 fish returned to the Stanley basin. They called him Lonesome Larry, and froze his sperm for the fish that would (hopefully) return the next year. [cool]
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