Spawning Areas 



Sockeye salmon are not as widely distrib- 

 uted in the Columbia River Basin as steelhead 

 trout or Chinook or coho salmon. Past and 

 present rearing areas are as follows: 



1. Arrow Lakes — Upper and Lower Arrow 



Lakes, Whatshan, and Slocan Lakes 



2. Okanogan Lakes — Palmer, Osoyoos, 



Skaha, and Okanogan Lakes 



3. Yakima Lakes — Bumping, Cle Elum, 



Kachess, and Keechelus Lakes 



4. Wenatchee Lake 



5. Payette Lake 



6. Wallowa Lake 



7. Redfish Lakes — Redfish, Alturas, Petit, 



and Yellowbelly Lakes, and 



8. Suttle Lake 



Map 10 shows these areas. Table 8 gives 

 notes about the streams and spawning areas. 



Wenatchee, Osoyoos, and Redfish are the 

 only lakes that produce sockeye salmon today 

 (map 10). 



It is possible that sockeye salmon formerly 

 migrated about 1,900 km. upstream from the 

 ocean into the headwaters of the Columbia 

 River; the presence of kokanee in Windermere 

 and Columbia Lakes suggests that the anadro- 

 mous form of the species once inhabited the 

 area. The presence of sockeye salmon in the 

 Columbia Lake area was never verified, but 

 thorough investigations were not made before 

 blockage of the runs by Grand Coulee Dam. 



Attempts have been made from time to time 

 to establish runs of sockeye salmon in other 

 areas in the Columbia River Basin. For ex- 

 ample, in 1916 stock from Yes Bay, Alaska, 

 was taken to the Little White Salmon Hatchery 

 and maintainede there for several generations 

 (Bryant, 1949). Also, from 1939-45 trans- 

 plants of native Columbia River stocks that 

 formerly spawned in the upper Columbia River 

 were made to Spirit Lake in the upper Toutle 

 River drainage of the Cowlitz River basin, 

 Suttle Lake in the Deschutes drainage, and to 

 the Little White Salmon River. Quinault Lake 

 stock from the Washington Coast was trans- 

 planted to Entiat River and Icicle Creek. Al- 

 though marked fish from these plants returned 

 to the Columbia River and were captured in 

 the commercial fisheries, only a few migrated 



to the places of release (none to Spirit Lake, 

 one to the Metolius River near Suttle Lake, 

 eight to Little White Salmon, and one to the 

 Entiat River). 



During 1954-58 further attempts were made 

 to establish runs of sockeye salmon in Spirit 

 Lake and Lost Lake in the West Fork Hood 

 River drainage (northeastern Oregon). About 

 400 adults returned to Spirit Lake, the result 

 of planting 197,000 young fish. However, only 

 a few returned to the Hood River system from 

 a plant of 50,000 young fish. C. E. Stockley 

 (biologist, Washington State Department of 

 Fisheries; personal communication, 1969) has 

 since advised that a kokanee population has 

 been established in Spirit Lake, perhaps as a 

 result of this stocking or the planting of ko- 

 kanee at various times. Spirit Lake has a 

 shortage of good spawning areas as most in- 

 let streams are steep and have large boulders. 

 It is possible that a sockeye salmon run could 

 be established in Spirit Lake if additional 

 spawning areas could be provided. 



In the late 50's, the Washington Depart- 

 ment of Fisheries made sporadic attempts to 

 establish a run of this species in Merwin Reser- 

 voir on the Lewis River. To my knowledge 

 no populations were established in this location. 



Abundance 



Sockeye salmon, as well as other species 

 of anadromous salmon and trout, were former- 

 ly much more numerous in the Columbia River 

 Basin. Records of canned sockeye salmon and 

 early history of fishing in the spawning areas 

 are our best indications of former abundance. 

 The fishery for sockeye salmon in the lower 

 Columbia River began in 1889 and quickly 

 peaked in 1898 when 2,056,000 kg. were packed. 

 Extreme yearly fluctuations in the catch were 

 characteristic of the early fishery (fig. 4). The 

 pack rapidly declined till 1910 when a slight up- 

 turn occurred. The first peak (2,056,000 kg.) 

 was about 17 times the average of 1956-66 

 (120,000 kg.). 



Fishing at or near the spawning grounds 

 had already been in progress before the large 

 commercial fishery began in the lower river. 

 Indians traveled great distances to obtain their 

 year's supply, which they usually dried or 

 smoke-cured. When the early white settlers 



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