2019 Kokanee Return is Promising

This year’s Kokanee return was three times larger than last year’s at 292 fish!

Due to heavy development in our urbanized watershed, native Kokanee in Lake Sammamish have experienced a tremendous habitat squeeze and subsequent population decline in recent decades, bringing them close to the point of extinction.

This year’s return can be attributed to a multi-pronged approach by Trout Unlimited in collaboration with all of the organizations and partners of the Kokanee Work Group.

Efforts include habitat restoration for spawning adults and rearing juveniles, improved water quality, fry trapping, a supplementation program that includes remote stream incubators and outreach and education.

The Kokanee Workgroup (KWG) works to ensure that its collective efforts are strategically tackling the highest priority projects identified in the Blueprint for Restoration and Enhancement of Lake Sammamish Kokanee (Blueprint) and the new Ecological Survey of "Late-Run" Kokanee in Lake Sammamish (Survey). To learn more about Kokanee salmon and all of the efforts being made to save our little red fish, check out the new “Spawning Documentary” in a screening near you. Visit www.spawninggroundsfilm.org for additional film information or visit https://lakesammamishkokanee.com/ to get involved.