Tuesday August 6, 2024
Big Country News —
Idaho Fish and Game reported a mortality event that resulted in about 33,000 young Chinook dying at the McCall Fish Hatchery in late July. The fish died from a lack of adequate oxygen supply in the rearing unit where they were being held.
The hatchery is rearing about 1.5 million young Chinook that will be released in the spring to migrate to the ocean. The 33,000 fish that died were among about 139,000 young Chinook that are being raised at the hatchery on behalf of the Nez Perce Tribe, so it will reduce that future release into Johnson Creek by about 24 percent to about 106,000 young fish.
The McCall Hatchery supplies Chinook to the South Fork of the Salmon River and nearby Johnson Creek. The Johnson Creek program is focused on restoring the wild summer Chinook population in Johnson Creek using hatchery-reared fish to increase abundance.