[7] Nearly 1,500 Fall Chinook Redds Counted In Snake River

Recent aerial surveys of the Snake River below Hells Canyon have counted a record number of shallow-water salmon redds, the nests made by females before they lay their eggs. More than 1,450 were seen from a helicopter, and another 29 were tallied by ground surveys.

That beats the old record from 2004, when 1,218 redds were found, according to a press release from Idaho Power. For years, the utility has maintained steady flows from its Hells Canyon Project between Oct. 12 and Dec. 8 to help spawning fall chinook, which are listed for protection under the ESA.

Flows will remain above 8,500 cfs to protect the incubating embryos.

The utility also reported that about 35 percent of redds were observed in the Snake River below its confluence with the Salmon River, and 65 percent upstream. Preliminary results from underwater videos have counted an additional 387 deep-water redds this year. -B. R.

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