News

Actions

Sockeye salmon facing hot water will be trapped, trucked

Lower Granite Dam on Snake River aerial from AP low res.jpg
Posted at
and last updated

Sockeye salmon at risk from high water temperatures will be captured at an eastern Washington dam to save as many of the endangered fish headed for Idaho as possible.

The Idaho Department of Fish and Game says workers will start trapping the salmon Tuesday at Lower Granite Dam on the Snake River and truck them to hatcheries to be artificially spawned or to Redfish Lake in central Idaho for release.

Fish and Game officials tell The Lewiston Tribune that water temperatures in the Snake and Salmon rivers have been as high as 76 degrees. That can be lethal for salmon.