Improving Sockeye genetics

Sockeye travel the furthest of all Idaho salmon, swimming more than 900 miles and climbing more than 6,500 feet in elevation to their home waters in the Sawtooth Valley. The landlocked version of the sockeye are one of Idaho’s most popular fisheries. Fish and Game official Brian Pearson talks about techniques to improve captured sockeye for their breeding program. We actually brought in eight fish. They were being processed at the Eagle Fish Hatchery and this has happened as recently as 2015. But it's not usual and it's a trade off. We would normally prefer in most circumstances, that these fish make the long journey all the way back to the Sawtooth Basin and end up at the Sawtooth Hatchery near Stanley. That's valuable for our sockeye recovery efforts because the fish that make the last leg of that journey have desirable genetics. These fish are equipped to make that trek all the way back to their natal stream. In this case, the Sawtooth hatchery. So those are the fish that we really want in our captive brood stock as far as genetics go for our captive brood stock or a captive breeding program, Darwinism, survival of the fittest. Exactly. It's bringing in and using natural selection and integrating that natural selection into our captive breeding program effectively. Idaho does its best to support the sockeye by having dozens of fundraising events.