100 Years of Kokanee: A History of Kokanee Salmon in Utah

This article sums up a 6 month research project, digging into the limited records on the history and introduction of kokanee salmon to the state of Utah.

In 1922, kokanee salmon were first brought to Utah. This year marks the 100 year introduction of the species to the state, but kokanee salmon had a rough start and almost didn’t make it. You can now find good populations of kokanee in 14 different bodies of water throughout the state, though many aren’t among the original lakes biologists attempted to stock. There were also efforts to introduce chum salmon, silver salmon, and king or chinook salmon in addition to the kokanee salmon, from the late 1800s through the early 1900s, but kokanee were the only ones that stuck. 

I’m writing this from the shores of Bear Lake, where kokanee salmon were first introduced and didn’t succeed, despite a strong effort from the state. There were also unsuccessful attempts to stock kokanee at Scofield, Deer Creek, Navajo Lake, and Panguitch Lake as the state did quite a bit of trial and error to figure out how to bring salmon to the state.

Kokanee Salmon Come to Utah

Kokanee salmon are not native or naturally found in the state of Utah. Kokanee were first introduced to Utah in 1922, when they requested and received a shipment of 250,000 kokanee fry from the state of Washington according to available records. They were raised in a hatchery to fingerling size over the next few months. The 224,000 that survived the winter were planted in Bear Lake in Rich County in the spring of 1923.

Subsequent Introductions

14 years later, in 1937, 98,000 kokanee fry were planted in Strawberry Reservoir by the U.S. Bureau of Fisheries. The source of this shipment of fry is not known. In 1938, 401,200 kokanee fry were procured by the State Fish and Game Department from Pend Oreille Lake in Idaho, and planted in Swan Creek, a tributary to Bear Lake. Some of these showed up in a fish trap in Swan Creek during the summer of 1939. In 1939, 244,000 eggs from Idaho were received and hatched at the U.S. Fish Hatchery, Springville, Utah. The resulting fry were planted in Strawberry Reservoir and Bear Lake. About 1941 kokanee began to shop up occasionally in these two bodies of water. During the early spring of 1946, several were observed in the fish trap at Bear Lake.

There was likely a thriving population before that time, but many states have reported challenges in catching kokanee in gill nets and other fish traps for population counts, especially in those times.

In 1947, 40,000 fingerlings, raised from eggs obtained in Idaho, were planted in Strawberry Reservoir. On January 7, 1948, 500,000 eggs were received from the hatchery at Sand Point, Idaho, and the resulting fry distributed as follows: Panguitch Lake 42,000 fry, Navajo Lake 42,000 fry, Scofield Reservoir 208,000 fry, and Strawberry Reservoir 208,000 . According to Curtis Earl, a few small kokanee were taken by fishmen from Strawberry Reservoir during the 1948 season.

Status of Utah’s Kokanee Salmon in 1950

I pulled much of the early history above from a report called Game, Fur, Animal, and Fish Introductions Into Utah, released in 1950 by the Utah State Department of Fish and Game. This same report also presented the following report as to the status of salmon at that time:

“Until the present time introductions of kokanee into Utah waters have not been too successful. Limited populations are probably in Strawberry and Scofield Reservoirs, Panguitch and Navajo Lakes, and possibly Bear Lake at present time.”

Other Utah Kokanee History and a Lack of Records

When I was doing the research for this article, I touched base with a few biologists, DWR agents, and combed through the internet for any and all documentation about the history of kokanee salmon in Utah. There isn’t very much to be had, other than the 1950 report I cited above. Much of the history is only found in people’s memories, which is why I reached out to several individuals with the DWR. One of the things I was curious about was if kokanee populations had been killed by the state in other management efforts, like those used to kill off chub. I received the following response to that question:

“The only kokanee salmon populations that I am aware of being killed off during invasive species control actions were at Scofield and Strawberry.  We obviously restocked them into Strawberry but didn’t do so in Scofield.  We may have killed off additional populations in the more distant past that I am not aware of.  If you look at our fish stocking history, we are very targeted in our stocking today and typically only stock where we think a species will do well.  Historically, however, we stocked exotic species into a lot of waters and many of those stockings didn’t pan out.  For example, whales and sharks were stocked into the Great Salt Lake with the thought that saltwater species would do well in a salty lake.  That was done without considering that the Great Salt Lake has a salinity that is many times greater than the ocean and these species were not adapted to the high salinity.  My point is that we probably stocked kokanee into a lot of waters and we don’t know whether they failed to persist due to a management action such as a rotenone treatment or whether they just did poorly and died off naturally.”

Kokanee at Bear Lake:

I reached out to our biologist over Bear Lake and he said they performed poorly because Bear Lake doesn’t have a good population of large zooplankton, which are a primary food source for kokanee, and their growth at the time was limited.  Their maximum size in the lake was 7-8″.  The biologist said the last kokanee was observed in 1945, as confirmed by the report in 1950 that just said it was only possible that there were kokanee at that time.  There is also a concern that kokanee salmon might compete with the cisco, and a few other species that are native to and are found only in Bear Lake.

We have speculated that Bear Lake was prioritized because most native populations are found in more northern areas. Additionally, a lot of the eggs and fry that the state of Utah received in these early years came from Idaho, so its possible that the decision to stock Bear Lake, which is in both Utah and Idaho, was selected to be mutually beneficial to both states. We haven’t found any sort of evidence to support this idea, so at this point its just our speculation.

Kokanee at Scofield

Kokanee also performed poorly in Scofield and were killed off during a 1958 rotenone treatment to remove Utah chub.  One of the state biologists I spoke with believed that they re-stocked them after that rotenone treatment and they again did poorly.  They didn’t re-stock them after another rotenone treatment in 1977.  

Kokanee at Deer Creek

Kokanee stocked into Deer Creek also failed to persist but we have recently seen a few in the reservoir.  They are coming downstream from a fairly robust population in Jordanelle Reservoir. Because of this, I wouldn’t say its impossible to catch a kokanee salmon at Deer Creek Reservoir, but I wouldn’t go there with the idea of specifically targeting kokanee. 

The Future of Kokanee in Utah

Kokanee Salmon are a well established addition to several lakes and reservoirs in the state. Strawberry and Flaming Gorge are especially well established, and are now where state officials harvest eggs from in order to hatch and further plant other reservoirs in the state. Where the state needed to rely on other states for eggs, fry, or fingerlings, Utah is now fairly self-sufficient in its kokanee management efforts. Additionally, the state has in recent years stocked additional lakes with kokanee salmon. Kokanee are now an extremely popular target fish. Although some biologists might not be thrilled with this nonnative fish being introduced to the state, the future for kokanee salmon in the state looks bright. Read more about the 14 locations you can find kokanee in the state of Utah.

About Kokanee Salmon

Kokanee salmon are sockeye salmon that are landlocked in fresh water. They primarily feed on Zoo plankton and are generally found in larger lakes that can maintain a cool temperature, or have enough depth to maintain a cool temperature. Kokanee are native to many lakes in the western United States and Canada including Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Idaho in the United States and British Columbia and Yukon in Canada. Populations of kokanee salmon are also found in Japan and Russia. 

Additionally, kokanee have been introduced to many other lakes in the United States including in those states mentioned above as well as in Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico in the west, as well as in New England, New York and North Carolina in the east. Kokanee have also been introduced to lakes in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan in Canada.

Best Selling Kokanee Gear

Source Document for History of Kokanee in Utah