The Snake River Sockeye Captive Broodstock Program: A Review of the First Twenty Years and What's Migrating Upstream in the Future

Snake River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka were listed as endangered in 1991.  A captive broodstock program was initiated at this time to prevent species extinction and to protect the genetics of the population.  To date, the Sockeye Program has been successful in conserving the genetics of the founding population.  The Sockeye Program has also reared and released small numbers of eggs, juveniles, and adults back to the habitat each year as a result of spawning captive broodstocks maintained at the Eagle Fish Hatchery in Idaho and NOAA Fisheries facilities in Washington.  The results of these releases have returned small numbers of anadromous sockeye salmon to the Sawtooth Basin.  As rearing space for full term sockeye smolt releases has been made available at other facilities, the Sockeye Program has been successful in returning larger numbers of anadromous sockeye to the Sawtooth Basin.  The Sockeye Program has shown a small smolt rearing program (80,000 to 180,000 smolts reared) resulted in a high of 1,355 sockeye salmon returning to the Sawtooth Basin in 2010.  The Eagle Fish Hatchery expanded the sockeye captive broodstock (from 300 to 600 adults) in 2007, as well as provided isolated holding space for anadromous sockeye salmon transferred to Eagle Fish Hatchery for incorporation into the captive broodstock.  The NOAA Fisheries facility is currently being modified to increase the captive broodstock held at Burley Creek Fish Hatchery.  The Sockeye Program has purchased a facility in Springfield, Idaho that will be reconstructed to provide rearing for up to 1,000,000 sockeye smolts annually.  After implementation of the smolt release program is under way, anadromous adult sockeye returns should increase dramatically.  The next steps would be to implement an integrated hatchery program and eventually working towards recovery goals of 1,000 natural spawners in Redfish Lake and 500 natural spawners in two additional lakes (Pettit and Alturas lakes).