Return of the Red Fish

Redfish Lake sockeye salmon were listed as endangered in November 1991 - the first Idaho salmon species to be listed. They are unique among sockeye. They travel more than 900 miles and climb more than 6,500 feet in elevation, and they are the southern most North American sockeye population.

Historically sockeye salmon returned up the Columbia to the Snake and then Salmon rivers to five Sawtooth Valley lakes: Alturas, Pettit, Redfish, Stanley and Yellowbelly.

In the 1880s, observers reported lakes and streams in the Stanley Basin teeming with redfish. There was talk of building a cannery at Redfish Lake. Returns were estimated between 25,000 and 35,000 sockeye.

Construction of the Sunbeam Dam in 1913 blocked upstream fish passage. The dam was partially destroyed in 1934 reopening the upper Salmon River, but no one tried to restore the salmon runs. The source of the present sockeye in Redfish Lake is uncertain.