Sockeye Salmon - Oncorhynchus nerka

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.

Lifecycle

Redfish Lake sockeye enter the Columbia River in June or July and reach Redfish Lake in July and August. They spawn in the lake shallows in October. Juveniles emerge in April to May and feed on zooplankton in the lake for one or two years. They begin their out-migration to the ocean in May. Most Redfish Lake sockeye spend two years in the ocean before heading back to the Stanley Basin.

Description

Average adult weight: 2 – 6 pounds.
Average adult length: 16 – 26 inches long.
During spawning, males bodies turn bright red, their heads turn green and they develop a hump and nasty set of teeth.

Status

Between 1991 and 2008, 1,005 wild sockeye returned to Idaho.
Between 1999 and 2007, 355 hatchery produced adult sockeye salmon returned to the Sawtooth Valley.
Over the previous 14 years, 77 natural-origin sockeye returned.
In 2000, 257 fish returned - 119 at Redfish Lake and 138 at the Sawtooth Hatchery.
In 2008, 907 sockeye were counted crossing Lower Granite Dam. A total of 650 sockeye returned to the Sawtooth Valley – 432 at Redfish Lake and 218 at Sawtooth Hatchery.
The 2009 sockeye return is predicted to be similar to the 2008 return. The majority of the sockeye returning will be four year old fish from smolts that migrated to the ocean in 2007. An estimated 143,500 natural and hatchery origin smolts migrated from the Sawtooth Valley in 2007.