IF&G determined to restore kokanee to Lake Pend Oreille

Second of two parts

Not that long ago in Bayview, the bars used to be full of fishermen, quaffing a beer while discussing the day’s catch.

This wasn’t a scene from 50 years ago, only six.

Today, rows of boat slips stand empty, waiting in vain for the kokanee fishing fleet to once more crowd Lake Pend Oreille. Chip Corsi, spokesman for Idaho Fish and Game, spoke to the economic losses: “Since the loss of the popular kokanee fishery, I would say that around $35 million would have been the economic value of the fishery,” he said.

The source of the problem was in 1925, when the U.S. Fish Commission planted lake trout, a Midwestern native. The introduction was followed by planting the Gerrard strain of rainbow trout in about 1941 and mysis shrimp in the ‘60s.

The thinking back then was that the kokanee would feed on the shrimp, attaining record numbers and larger sizes. They did that, but not from eating shrimp.

Kokanee, a landlocked sockeye salmon, was and is the primary food fish for the larger trout and lake trout. What the shrimp did do though, is provide an enormous source of food for juvenile lake trout, or as they are know as, mackinaw. Macs will top 40 pounds or more at maturity, which can be up to 27 years old or more. With the advent of the mysis, the lake trout populations exploded, causing the predation of kokanee past their ability to reproduce in numbers large enough to survive. The lakers began to dominate the food chain to the point that kokanee are almost extinct.

Attempts have been made by the Bonneville Power Administration, the Corps of Engineers and Avista to bring back this vital source of income to the businesses around the lake. Idaho Fish and Game estimates that $19 million is the current value of the Lake Pend Oreille fishery.

Further attempts to reverse the declining kokanee population problem were addressed by Jim MacDonald in 1971. MacDonald, a former state senator, believing that a commercial fishery was counterproductive, went to Boise with the request that the commercial season be discontinued.

Fish and Game sent a biologist to examine MacDonald’s claim that the harvest was larger than could be replaced by future spawning. He recommended banning the commercial taking of kokanee. Prior to that, individuals could take 100 fish per day, and commercial fishermen could take an additional 200 fish per day.

The measure passed review and became regulation, but it wasn’t enough.

Currently, other measures are in force, including year-round open season on trout and mackinaw. Tributaries, such as the Clark Fork and Pack Rivers, are open to fishing for the larger species during the spawning cycle, an event unheard of in the past. Fish and Game believes that the only way the lake can come back into balance is to kill off most or all of the rainbow trout and most of the mackinaw, followed by a massive infusion of kokanee from other sources.

In addition, a bounty was set for $15 for the heads of either rainbow trout over 16 inches, or for mackinaw of any length. “Correcting the mistakes of the past isn’t that easy,” Corsi said. “Many fishermen oppose those methods such as opening a commercial lake trout and whitefish season, and developing a market for the fresh fish. The department is, very sensitive to the mistakes made in the past, and doesn’t intend to repeat them, if at all possible.”

Bayview Creek, which apparently inconvenienced so many people, was rerouted many times. It was finally killed by Boileau’s Marina in 1997 when it was diverted, piped underground with its outlet way above the winter level. That stopped any fish from swimming up to spawn. Studies are under way to visit the possibility of returning this stream to productivity.

Much has been said about what happened, when it happened, and why. Fish and Game authorities are now faced with the questions: Are we “too little, too late?”

Many experts, including former Fish and Game commissioner Dick Hansen, think it might be. “Unless we can kill off 80 percent of the mackinaw in the lake, (chances of recovery) is very little. There are simply too many predators eating too few kokanee.” The total spawn in the fall of 2007 was a statistical zero. Another year such as that can’t be survived.

“Trying to restore the kokanee is a noble cause, but useless,” Hansen said. Currently, the Fish and Game has planted 20,000 egg sac stage kokanee at the scene of the Harborview mitigation last fall. An additional 6 million fry will be planted, mostly at Sullivan Springs in Granite Creek. Recent discoveries found some spawn at MacDonald’s Resort, previously thought to have gone extinct. But they spawned in deeper water, apparently adapting to the rise and fall of the lake.

When asked about recovery efforts, Corsi said, “We are trying by obtaining eggs from other sources to bring them back. But eggs are scarce.” But he added that “this department is not going down without a fight, and regardless of the dismal odds, we believe that we can bring the lake back, and more importantly, within our lifetime.”