Wednesday November 19, 2025
Castanet —
Chinook and sockeye salmon might not be back on the menu but the fish are once again appearing in B.C. waters after another release of the fish south of the border, according to the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation and the Sinixt Confederacy.
Now in its seventh year of releases of adult Chinook salmon and sockeye salmon above the Grand Coulee Dam — and after two years of work — it is known that a significant number of Chinook released above the U.S. dams are moving upstream into Canada and spawning successfully.
A significant amount of salmon habitat is available upstream of the border, reaching to Hugh Keenleyside Dam on the Columbia River near Castlegar and to Brilliant Dam in the Kootenay River, according to a report from the Colville Confederated Tribes.
On the Canadian side of the border, the Sinixt Confederacy has used the tags on the migrating fish to identify spawning locations and the timing of spawning, which can inform hydroelectric operations on how best to protect salmon.
The Sinixt have worked with Selkirk College in 2024 and 2025 to study migration patterns via aerial surveys of the Columbia River by drone and helicopter that count adult salmon and identify redds (nests created by female salmon to protect their eggs).
It is not legal to target salmon in the Columbia River in Canada, but social media reports indicate that some anglers are catching Chinook incidentally.
An angler from Taghum, who recently caught a Chinook incidentally on the Columbia River for perhaps the first time in 80 years, said it “was quite an emotional experience” and praised the “awesome” restoration efforts that he is “super happy about.”
- If you catch a Chinook in Canada, adult or juvenile, please contact the Sinixt Confederacy office in Nelson at (509) 419-9804.
On the U.S. side of the border, an effort called the phase two implementation plan (“P2IP”) includes releasing thousands of adult salmon and hundreds of thousands of juvenile salmon into the waters blocked by the Grand Coulee, Chief Joseph and Spokane river dams.
In 2025 over 4,500 adult salmon were released into the blocked areas, with nearly 900 released into the transboundary reach of the Columbia. This is a 10-fold increase from the first releases seven years ago.