Salmon return highest in years
Salmon River floating restrictions begin tomorrow to aid Chinook
To treat this with a lot of optimism is not the way it should be
portrayed. We need lots of years of improved conditions, and we cannot expect Mother
Nature to improve conditions with these dams in place."
Dave Cannamela, Fish and Game fisheries biologist
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
By Sunday, 125 sockeye salmon had returned to their ancestral breeding
grounds in the Sawtooth Valley, but Idaho Department of Fish and Game fisheries biologist
Dave Cannamela warned that long-term downward population trends will probably continue as
long as four Snake River dams are still in place.
This year’s sockeye return is the best in 10 years. Last year, a mere
seven sockeye returned to the Sawtooth Valley. In the decade of the 1990s, only 23
returned.
"We see this year what we’ve seen in the past when we get good
ocean and climatic conditions," Cannamela said in a Monday afternoon interview.
"Yea, we’re glad to see more fish, but the downside of that is that we’re
not seeing a substantial gain in the wild fish numbers."
Cannamela said that, of the 125 returning sockeye, seven are "most
likely from natural production." The remaining 118 were hatchery-raised fish.
"To treat this with a lot of optimism is not the way it should be
portrayed," he said. "We need lots of years of improved conditions, and we
can-not expect Mother Nature to improve conditions with these dams in place.
"The real problem is still there. The artery still has the clogs in
it. The patient is still in the emergency room. When things go bad again, as we know they
will, we’ll be back to really bad—and even worse—shape."
In 1991, Idaho began a captive breeding program after the sockeye were
placed on the federal endangered species list.
In the 10-year history of the program, a 100-fish return seems enormous
compared to the years when one or no sockeye successfully completed the 900-mile journey
from the Pacific Ocean, according to a Fish and Game press release.
In 1998, an estimated 143,000 sockeye salmon smolts (newborn salmon) left
the Sawtooth Valley en route to the ocean. The fish returning this year are from that
release, the press release stated.
According to Fish and Game biologist Paul Kline, most of the returning
adult sockeye will be released to spawn naturally in Redfish, Alturas and Pettit lakes in
the Sawtooth Valley. Between 10 and 20 of the fish may be kept and incorporated into the
spawning program at the Eagle Hatchery near Boise.
Sockeye aren’t the only fish doing well this summer. The summer
Chinook salmon run is also looking better than in the past, Cannamela said.
Chinook salmon returns are up over previous years, he said.
This summer, 6,688 Chinook crossed Lower Granite Dam, the last of eight
dams the fish must circumvent before making their way to their breeding grounds on the
upper Salmon River. Last year, by comparison, 4,181 crossed the dam.
But despite the improved return, Salmon River floating restrictions will
be implemented tomorrow to help spawning Chinook successfully reproduce.
Sawtooth National Recreation Area (SNRA) officials want Chinook salmon
that make the perilous 900-mile return trip to their spawning grounds to have every
possible chance at sustaining the species’ survival. That means the fish must be able
to spawn unimpeded by rafts, kayaks or wading fishermen and tourists.
Threatened Chinook salmon that have negotiated the four lower Snake River
dams and four Columbia River dams will probably begin building nests—called
redds—this week or next week, said SNRA backcountry ranger Ed Cannady.
In anticipation of the salmon’s return to their ancestral spawning
areas, the SNRA will implement several measures designed to give fish optimum reproductive
conditions.
Times for closing the river to rafters and kayakers will and have been
used to allow fish to choose the best sites for nest building and completion of their
spawning.
Some stretches of the river, primarily Indian Riffles and Torrey’s
Hole, have ideal conditions for Chinook spawning and are home to several redds.
Before spawning, the fish become stationary in the river for several days,
a process called "staging." Restrictions on river use will begin then or on Aug.
10, whichever is earlier.
Once staging has commenced, signs will be posted at Indian Riffles and
Torrey’s Hole directing floaters to stay in their boats, navigate the deepest part of
the channel and minimize disturbance of staging fish.
Grounding boats, wading and going to shore will be prohibited at Indian
Riffles and Torrey’s Hole.
Floating time windows are used to ensure that fish have the majority of
the day to seek ideal spawning grovels without the disturbance caused by rafts floating
over or near them.
Floating is only allowed through Indian Riffles between the hours of 10
a.m. and 4 p.m. and through Torrey’s Hole only from noon to 6 p.m. If these time
windows can’t be observed, boaters must portage around the two spawning areas.
Once fish actually begin building redds, the spawning period begins and a
new set of rules apply.
"These fish need to be able to build their redds with limited human
disturbance," said Deb Bumpus, SNRA threatened and endangered species biologist.
"They have not eaten since they left the Pacific and are operating on
limited reserves. We have to give them the best chance possible to spawn
successfully," she said.
Therefore, on Aug. 21, or when the fish begin spawning, whichever comes
first, floaters are required to walk around Indian Riffles, from Mormon Bend campground to
the Yankee Fork and from the River Company launch site to Torrey’s Hole.
