First Sockeye Salmon Reaches Stanley Area in Central Idaho
STANLEY, Idaho (AP) — Idaho biologists say the first sockeye salmon has arrived in central Idaho.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game in a statement Friday says the fish arrived Tuesday after a 900-mile journey from the Pacific Ocean. Officials say about 1,000 sockeye bound for Idaho have crossed Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River, and more than 700 of those have crossed Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River on the way to Idaho's Salmon River and the Stanley area.
Last year, an estimated 4,000 sockeye entered the Columbia River in what managers expected would be one of the best-ever returns to high mountain lakes in central Idaho. But 99 percent of the run died due to lethally hot water in the Columbia Basin.