A Baker’s Million – North Cascades Sockeye Eggs To Be Transferred To Lake Washington

A million Baker Lake sockeye eggs will be transferred to a Cedar River hatchery this fall in hopes they help eventually recover Lake Washington’s runs and rebuild its fabled fishery.

It’s a long shot, but state, tribal and utility officials are also working to remove predator fish in the big metro lake that eat young salmon, as well as increase fry releases into the system, and improve the Ballard Locks Adult Sockeye Transfer program, which gives returning fish a lift straight from saltwater to holding tanks on the Cedar, bypassing the lake and its often too-warm and disease-laden waters.

With plenty of sockeye back to Baker Lake this year, WDFW says some 800 fish, or 400 pairs, will be used in this second egg transfer of recent years from Baker to Lake Washington. Last year saw the first (there was a small transfer of 26,388 extended-reared fry in 2019).

“WDFW works closely with Seattle Public Utilities and Muckleshoot Indian Tribe on the Cedar River Hatchery program, including increasing fry releases when adult broodstock are available,” said agency spokesman Chase Gunnell in Mill Creek.

The 1 million eggs potentially represent a 33 percent increase in how many are typically collected at the Cedar River Hatchery. Eggtake has annually averaged 3.1 million the last five years, with a range of just over 800,000 to nearly 5 milllion, according to Gunnell.

“Happy to get what we can,” stated Frank Urabeck, a longtime watcher of all things Lake Washington sockeye. “Disappointed that we could not have gotten 3 million eggs that I advocated for. Cedar River hatchery has capacity for 10 million eggs transfers. If the comanagers are serious about restoring the once famous Lake Washington sockeye fisheries, they and the City of Seattle have to produce a viable  recovery plan and significantly up their efforts and funding.”

Another 400 adult Baker sockeye will be set aside for a project helping to build a run in Hood Canal’s Lake Cushman. Now in its seventh year, fish have been returning for three years to Tacoma Power’s Saltwater Park Hatchery.

“State and tribal salmon managers hope that by helping these hatcheries grow and become self-sustaining, they will support sockeye recovery and future fisheries in King County and Mason County,” WDFW reports in a blog publishing today.

The last Lake Washington sockeye season occurred in 2006, but recent years have seen a rise in fishing for landlocked sockeye, or kokanee, there. The ocean-going run is affected by predation during the extended rearing phase in the lake and during outmigration, ocean conditions and survival, hot water in the shipping canal that can lead to disease, and prespawn mortality.

Making the egg transfers all possible is a robust return of 46,936 Baker Lake sockeye this year through August 7. That figure is a combination of the Baker River trap count plus downriver sport and tribal catches. WDFW reports a recreational harvest of 1,000 fish over 51,777 angler hours on the Skagit River, which also saw two season extensions.

Of those nearly 47,000 sockeye – for the record, about 10,000 fewer than forecast, but a few are still straggling in – more than 9,300 have been set aside for hatchery and spawning beach purposes, and more than 17,000 have been let loose in the lake for fishing. Season there runs through the end of this month, though most fish are typically caught in July.

The Baker Lake Hatchery eggtake goal is 9 million. Production needs have been met or will be soon, according to WDFW.