Washington announces record sockeye salmon returns to Baker River system
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- WDFW reports 91,880 sockeye returned to Skagit and Baker River system in 2025.
- 1.5 million juvenile sockeye passed Baker Lake collectors in May 2025.
- PSE, Upper Skagit, Swinomish and WDFW expanded hatchery and habitat projects.
A record number of sockeye have returned to Skagit Bay and the Skagit river on their annual spawning migration, according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
From June through October, approximately 91,880 of the salmon returned to the Skagit River system on their way to Baker River and Baker Lake. Considering the Baker River system had declined to less than 100 returning fish in 1985, the 91,880 this summer is seen as an historic return by Baker sockeye management groups.
A record number of juvenile fish — 1.5 million — passed through the Baker Lake and Lake Shannon Floating Surface Collectors during the May outbound migration.
The Baker sockeye run consists of salmon native to Baker Lake and the Baker River, a tributary to the Skagit River.
“Each year, sockeye returning to the lake are trapped below two dams on the lower Baker River before they are transported above these facilities where they are placed at artificial spawning beaches, used for production at WDFW and PSE’s hatchery facility, or released into Baker Lake to spawn naturally or be caught by anglers,” according to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife website on the Baker River sockeye.
The management of the Baker sockeye is a collaboration between Puget Sound Energy (PSE), the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe, the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“There have been several habitat restoration projects in the Skagit Watershed in recent years that support salmon recovery, including for sockeye as well as Chinook and other species. These range from estuary restoration such as WDFW’s project at Milltown Island, to projects to reconnect floodplains and historic side channels led by area tribes and the Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group,” Chase Gunnell of the WDFW told The Herald in an email.
Puget Sound Energy has made several contributions to conservation of the Baker sockeye run, which began with PSE’s Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license negotiations in 2004.
“The Baker Hydroelectric Project’s license called for major PSE initiatives to further enhance fish populations in the Skagit-Baker watershed for tribal, commercial and recreational harvest opportunities, as well as restoration of native salmon stocks to sustainable population levels,” according to a news release from PSE. “This effort has included the installation of new upstream and downstream fish-passage facilities, construction of a new fish hatchery, construction of a second Lower Baker powerhouse for better river-flow control and riparian-habitat protection and enhancement.”
In the news release, PSE said a key component of the restoration was the Lower Baker Dam installed in 2010. The dam works by capturing adult sockeye and coho salmon, and transports them upstream providing a “fish taxi” service.
Hatcheries can also have a large impact on fish population, and PSE finished the final expansion of their 2024 hatchery, which includes eight raceways, and four “naturalized” spawning beaches, according to the release. A proportion of the fish released to Baker Lake from hatcheries are conserved for natural spawning in the Baker River system.
New recreational fishing operations are available at Baker Lake following the release of adult sockeye.
.jpg)