Spilyay Tymoo, Warm Springs, Oregon
August 17, 2016
Page 5
Sockeye salmon restoration
Dylan Miller processing a sockeye at the fish station by the
re-reg dam.
The processing team included Dylan Miller (left), talking with Francis Sorrelhorse, both of tribal BNR
Fisheries, plus the PGE and ODFW workers.
This summer the sockeye count
at the fish collection facility below
the Pelton-Round Butte hydro dams
was over 300.
The count was more than three
times higher than last year, said
PGE adult fisheries biologist Becky
Burchell.
PGE, the tribes and ODFW
were collecting the returning sock-
eye at the collection facility located
by the re-reg dam.
The fish were tagged and pro-
cessed, with some receiving a ra-
dio tracking device.
The sockeye were then trans-
ported by truck above the dams,
where they were released into the
reservoir. Some of these fish will
make their way upstream to spawn.
The goal of the program is to
establish a sustainable sockeye run
above the dams, said Jim Manion,
general manager of Warm Springs
Power and Water Enterprises.
The sockeye re-introduction
program began after the 2009
completion of the fish tower—or
Selective Water Withdrawal
Tower—located at the Round
Butte dam. The original sockeye
run ended with the construction of
the dams in the 1960s.
The fish tower creates a current
in the lake that allows some of the
juvenile fish to make their way
downstream through the reservoir,
where they are collected and re-
leased below the dams.
Through the program, the first
returning adult sockeye showed up
in 2011. Since then, some of the
returning sockeye were brought to
the Round Butte hatchery, while
others have been released up-
stream.
The tracking data shows there
has been natural sockeye spawn-
ing above the dams, Burchell said.
Since 2005, the tribes and PGE
are co-owners, licensees and opera-
tors of the Pelton-Round Butte
hydro system.
Once the fish are
tagged and
processed they are
trucked upstream to
a site where they are
released into
reservoir above the
dams (left).
And at far left, an
ODFW worker uses
a detector to
determine if a fish
has a tag in its
snout.
And at middle left
top, the biologist
inserts a radio tag
into a sockeye.
Dave McMechan photos
Fish processing facility by the re-reg dam.
Dave McMechan photos.
341 SW Sixth St.
Redmond
Tuesday - Saturday
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
15% OFF product purchases
Complimentary brow wax with any
hair service - ($15 value)
To redeem: bring in the coupon, mention
this ad, or show your tribal ID.