Riverine Sockeye Salmon in Puget Sound

Conventional wisdom was that sockeye annually observed in Puget Sound streams without lakes were strays from Lake Washington or other lacustrine populations.  Scale samples were collected from carcasses encountered on spawner surveys and from fish that were trapped at hatcheries.  Interpretation of the scales determined that the fish were not strays from Lake Washington.  The scale patterns for the various collections broke out into three groups; riverine stocks, lacustrine stocks from previously unrecognized populations, and smolting kokanee.  The plasticity shown by these fish offer opportunities for creation of new lacustrine populations.