If you went to view the spawning Kokanee Salmon this fall you likely noticed there were not as many salmon as in the past. The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources reports that the number of kokanee salmon spawning at Strawberry and Flaming Gorge reservoirs has drastically decreased this year and it is an observation that is being made across the western United States. It is most likely due to the recent drought conditions and lower water levels. An important part of maintaining the kokanee salmon population is egg collection. The collected eggs are fertilized and the fish are grown in state fish hatcheries until they reach a certain size. Because of the lack in northeastern Utah, the DWR obtained more than 650,000 fertilized eggs from Fish Lake. That was still below quota so they also secured an additional 400,000 eggs from the Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks program.
