From Lonesone Larry In 1992, Snake River Sockeye Run Rebounds Into The Hundreds This Year

[hatrack]

For the second summer in a row, hundreds of sockeye salmon are pouring into the upper reaches of the Salmon River near Stanley. Their final destination is the Redfish Lake area, in the eastern shadow of the ragged crest of the Sawtooth Mountains. Altogether, 452 of the "red fish" have arrived at either of two fish traps located on the Salmon River at the Sawtooth Fish Hatchery or near the mouth of Redfish Lake Creek.

The back-to-back positive returns of the iconic fish of the Sawtooth Valley is largely the result of increased smolt production at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game's captive rearing program. Positive river flows and good ocean conditions have also given the fish a boost in recent years. Last summer, 636 of the fish—sporting the classic green head and red-bodied look of spawning sockeye—arrived home to the high-elevation valley.

The first two sockeye of the 2009 season arrived in the Sawtooth Valley in late July.

The two runs more than surpass the recent high of 257 sockeye that came back in 2000, which was the next highest return since 1985. And it's far more than the four sockeye that came back in 2007. Between 1991 and 1998, a total of just 16 sockeye returned to Redfish Lake. The historic declines in the fish are tied to over-fishing, mining, poisoning in the early days and, perhaps most significantly, a dam-building boom on the Columbia and lower Snake rivers between 1937 and 1975.

EDIT

http://www.mtexpress.com/index2.php?ID=2005127436