09/04/08 Sockeye release at Redfish Lake

Once there are tens of thousands of them returning to the Sawtooth Valley. But with Governor Butch Otter lending a helping hand 56 sockeye salmon were released into Redfish Lake this week. These fish are part of the captive breeding program and part of the 557 sockeye to make the 900 mile trip from the Pacific Ocean to central Idaho. Governor Otter says look for more in the future if we can protect habitat. OTTER "That is what it comes down to and maintaining the conduits, from the ocean, 900 miles 65 hundred feet in elevation back up here. That is a miracle itself. There are a lot of miracles in Idaho but this is one of the miracles." Between 1991 and 1998 only 16 wild sockeye salmon returned to the lake and that's when the captive breeding program started. This year's big return is due in part to 180 thousand sockeye migrating from the lake and hatcheries in 2005. As many as 500 wild sockeye trapped this year will be released to spawn in Redfish Lake later this month along with another 280 adults raised in hatcheries. Voice of Idaho Agriculture Bill Scott