Life story of the kokanee salmon

STRAWBERRY RESERVOIR — Every year, the old "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde" story is being played out here to the bitter end through the life story of the kokanee salmon.

Come late August through early October, a seemingly passive, normal-looking silver fish with rounded features is suddenly transformed into a hump-backed, hook-jawed denizen of the deep with a bright red body and a single-minded objective — to spawn.

Its mission complete, the fish will then die. There is no cure, but none is really needed. This is, after all, the life cycle of the kokanee salmon.

Starting in late August, the kokanee salmon begin a spawning ritual that will be their first and last. By the end of October the spawners will be dead.

If it weren't so beautiful, it would be frightening.

The annual spawn of the kokanee salmon is on, and, according to Roger Wilson, project leader at the reservoir for the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, this year's run is the third best in the most recent life of Strawberry Reservoir.

Thus far, 4,327 kokanee have passed through the various fish traps set around Strawberry Reservoir. The only years with better numbers were 1999 and 2000.

"We didn't expect this would be such a good run," he added, "but kokanee are unpredictable. We never know what they're going to do."

Early Tuesday, biologists met at the Strawberry raceways behind the visitors center to help the kokanee during their spawning ritual, albeit, most likely, not very much appreciated by the fish.

Fish from the traps are individually picked up by biologists and examined. Some of the fish are released to spawn naturally in the Strawberry River. Others are stripped of their eggs and sperm. The fertilized eggs will then be placed in a hatchery until they hatch. The fish will then be raised to what is called an "impressionable age," which is usually when they reach an inch or 2 long, and released.

The egg-taking program is a vital link in the attempt to establish a kokanee population in Strawberry, similar to the one in Flaming Gorge.

In fact, some of the eggs taken from Strawberry will be sent to Flaming Gorge this year.

"With the number of fish we're taking in the traps," continued Wilson, "it looks like we will have enough for other waters. Our first priority, of course, is Strawberry. We'll fill our quota first.