Friday May 1, 2026
NowMedia —
It may seem like a significant number at first glance, but the reality is that it’s a fraction of what’s desired.
This morning in Penticton, the Okanagan National Alliance (ONA) began the process of releasing 330,000 sockeye fry throughout its territory this spring.
The hundreds of thousands of sockeye fry set to be released into Okanagan and Columbia basin creeks, rivers and lakes comes after a disappointing spawner return in 2025.
“In previous years, we were releasing up to four-million fry, but due to unfavourable water temperatures and fishing in the US, only 9,000 spawners returned this past fall compared to the expected return of under 72,000,” explained ONA fisheries biologist Shayla Lawrence.
According to Lawrence, more fish were harvested in the US than returned to spawn last year.
The ONA says “extreme environmental conditions” in 2025 are to blame as well, as they create thermal barriers that delayed Okanagan-bound salmon in the Columbia River as they sought cooler, deeper waters.