Idaho Governor Releases 475 Salmon into High Mountain Lake

LOCAL 8 NEWS IDAHO ^ | 08 SEPTEMBER 2006 | AP

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

REDFISH LAKE, Idaho (AP) - After an overnight flight from Seattle, 475 hatchery-raised sockeye salmon dove into a picturesque Idaho mountain lake Friday in the hopes they'll swim back to the Pacific and someday fancy a return visit to Idaho.

Gov. Jim Risch helped dump the big blue tubs of juvenile sockeye at Redfish Lake in the Idaho Sawtooths as part of the state's effort to help the endangered fish recover.

The lake derives its name from the days when its waters were red with the brightly colored spawning salmon.

Bert Bowler of Idaho Rivers United applauded the state's work, but says the only way to ensure the sockeyes come back to Redfish is to remove four Lower Snake River dams that kill thousands of young fish as they migrate to the ocean.

Of the hundreds of sockeye planted in past years at Redfish, only three have returned this year.

[Lokibob]

Of the hundreds of sockeye planted in past years at Redfish, only three have returned this year

 

And they made a damn fine meal.

[Anti-Bubba182]

"...the only way to ensure the sockeyes come back to Redfish is to remove four Lower Snake River dams that kill thousands of young fish as they migrate to the ocean."

Life is hard.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Something fishy here...

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

Salmon is the best. I try to eat as much of it as I can.

[Lokibob]

ou said that for the halibut.

[southernnorthcarolina]

In a possibly related development, southernnorthcarolina checked his inventory of olive oil, shallots, lemons, various herbs, and most importantly, Oregon Pinot Noir.

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

Only 475, I thought they stocked by the thousands.

[hoosierham]

To be honest,being chopped into bits by turbine impellers is hardly a natural danger ;and it ought be possible to design the dams and generators to function without wastefully killing wildlife.

I find myself angered that so many expensive dams have been destroyed already. I wish that the people involved in making decisions for our money had the experiences of real hard work for low pay, of not being able to have everything they wanted right now, of even being a little hungry the day before payday.Maybe then they wouldn't throw money away on foolishness.

[babygene]

"To be honest,being chopped into bits by turbine impellers is hardly a natural danger ;and it ought be possible to design the dams and generators to function without wastefully killing wildlife."

The problem is not chopping them to bits... The issue is them not being able to get up the river to spawn.

[RigidPrinciples]

I believe they typically do a "summer spill" where they spill water over the dams to help some of the fish make it passed the dams. But it's been pretty dry the past many years, and with below average snowmelt, spilling *any* water over the dams makes the power companies cringe. It's literally compared to throwing hundreds of thousands of dollars away, just to help species survive. The "summer spill" is fought tooth and nail, and shady justifications used by the power companies is their "right" to kill just as many fish as the Native Americans are, even though those folks are actually doing something with the fish.

There are compromises, but the ones that help the fish hurt the rate payers' wallets. I like low energy costs, but I have no problem using a less power in the summers, and paying more, if it means my grandchildren will still be able to experience these species. Either way you look at it, whether God gave us these individual species, or if it took thousands of years for these species to evolve, it's hard to argue cogently against ensuring their existence, if what we're doing is deciding their fate. It will even be harder to justify it to future generations.

[babygene]

"Either way you look at it, whether God gave us these individual species, or if it took thousands of years for these species to evolve, it's hard to argue cogently against ensuring their existence, if what we're doing is deciding their fate."

I live in Idaho, fish in Idaho, and occasionally eat salmon in Idaho. It's my understanding that salmon are not in danger of instinction. The ones I eat are caught in the pacific. You can even fish for sock-eye in the Colombia...

I believe the issue is that they can't get up river past the dams in order to spawn, so there is a shortage of them up river. (they just spawn someplace else)

Unless you are an Indian, you will never eat a salom caught in Idaho. Or for that matter, you will probably never see one in the wild in Idaho. Nor will your grandkids.

The fact is that we have to have dams, not just for electricity but for irrigation. Even if it meant the extinction of salmon (which it doesn't), some things are more important than fish...