From lake to cooler: Kokanee salmon feed the community
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DURANGO, Colo. — “Got one!” yelled hatchery technician Sarah Gump as she squeezed eggs from a kokanee salmon and tossed the fish into a holding pen.
On a recent Wednesday morning, four employees with Colorado Parks and Wildlife spawned kokanee at Lake Nighthorse, collecting and fertilizing eggs. By 9 a.m., they had processed about 50 fish, with many more waiting.
Video: Ziyi Xu, Rocky Mountain PBS
Kokanee salmon were introduced to Colorado from Washington in 1951 as a game fish. Unlike ocean-going sockeye, kokanee salmon spend their entire lives in freshwater. They live about three years before returning in the fall to spawn and die days later.
Dating back to 1951, every year CPW collects about 10 million kokanee eggs statewide from nine reservoirs. Biologists fertilize the eggs and raise the fish in hatcheries until they reach fingerling size. The young fish are then released across Colorado. Three years later, many return to the same waters where they were stocked.
After spawning, the salmon die and return nutrients to the ecosystem. However, fish collected at reservoirs are later given away to the community to anyone with a fishing license or a tribal membership card.
Two days after CPW’s spawning effort, about 50 people gathered at Lake Nighthorse with coolers and buckets to take salmon home.
“These salmon are actually quite delicious smoked,” said Kade Jackson, an aquatic biologist. “The flesh is softer after spawning, which makes them well suited for smoking.”
CPW distributed more than 3,000 fish in less than two hours. Steffenie and Siena Kant from Pagosa Springs took home 25 fish.
“They’re a little smaller than I was expecting, but we’re going to cook some fresh and then the rest we’re planning on canning,” Steffenie Kant said. “I love that they are actually opening it up to the community. And if you have a fishing license, all you do is come get some.”
Type of story: News
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. To read more about why you can trust the journalism of Rocky Mountain PBS, please visit our editorial standards and practices page.