Idaho’s kings return
Sawtooth hatchery processes
chinook returns
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
A few of Idaho’s kings are returning to
the ramparts of the Sawtooth Mountains this year in a big, big way.
Each day at the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery
south of Stanley, Idaho Department of Fish and Game biologists measure and
handle massive chinook salmon that have returned to the Sawtooth Valley from the
Pacific Ocean. Mallory Robison, 4, of Logan, Utah, said the chinook salmon she
saw on Saturday were the biggest fish she ever saw. They were "slimy, big," the
bashful little girl said. Express photos by Willy Cook
Among the chinook salmon returning to
Idaho are a few five-year-olds measuring more than 40 inches and weighing nearly
40 pounds. At the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery on Saturday, Idaho Department of Fish
and Game biologists measured and released two fish measuring roughly 106
centimeters. That’s 42.4 inches or 3.5 feet.
Chinook, sometimes called king salmon, are
"quite often" that big, said Sawtooth Hatchery fish culturist Mel Hughes.
However, the largest fish this year measured 117 centimeters, he said.
The fish are "slimy, big," said Mallory
Robison, 4, from Logan, Utah. Mallory, who was visiting the Sawtooth Hatchery
with her parents, said the chinook salmon she saw were far-and-away the largest
fish she had ever seen.
Each day at 9 a.m. between June and early
September, biologists at the Sawtooth Hatchery empty a large fish trap
containing salmon that have traveled 900 miles from the Pacific ocean to spawn
in the region’s cold, clear water.
Sawtooth Fish Hatchery Assistant
Manager Mark Olson went out of his way to accommodate questions from curious
onlookers. This fish, the biggest one trapped on Saturday, was 106 centimeters
long. That’s about 3.5 feet. Express photos by Willy Cook
On Saturday, a group of spectators was
well accommodated, and gasps of excitement emerged from shining faces as the
largest of the fish was handled, anesthetized and measured.
Sawtooth Hatchery Assistant Manager Mark
Olson said the fish are trapped in order to determine whether they are of
hatchery or natural origin, and to return some of the fish to the hatchery’s
brood stock program. All naturally born fish are returned to the river, along
with some of the returning hatchery-raised fish, he said.
Wearing waders to protect him from the
cold water, Tony Herold, a Fish and Game biological aide, climbed into the deep
trap and netted the salmon. He then passed the net to Olson and Mike Setlock,
who immersed the fish in anesthetic.
After being anesthetized, handled and
measured, most of the chinook salmon trapped on Saturday were released back
into the Salmon River after a short truck ride upriver of the hatchery.
Hatchery-raised fish that were kept will be used to bolster the hatchery’s
broodstock program. Express photos by Willy Cook
Once anesthetized, the fish were measured,
and genetic samples were taken. A test was also performed to determine if the
fish possessed a metal wire in its jaw. Detection of a wire indicated a
hatchery-raised fish.
Natural-origin fish, along with some
hatchery-raised fish were then placed in the back of a truck, which was used to
deliver them back to the river, where they will spawn naturally.
By Saturday, 807 chinook had returned to
the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery. Of those, 379 were hatchery-raised, and 428 were
born in the wild.