BOISE, Idaho — Fifteen live adult sockeye salmon have been released for public viewing at a nature center in Boise, the Idaho Department of Fish and Game says.
The agency said Tuesday that the sockeye can be viewed at the MK Nature Center's Alpine Lake aquarium. The center is open from daylight to dusk.
The fish were trapped at Lower Granite Dam in eastern Washington as part of an effort to make sure there are enough fish for a hatchery program intended to save the fish from extinction.
But genetic testing showed the fish are not Snake River sockeye, but sockeye from other parts of the Columbia basin.
Idaho Fish and Game officials captured 201 salmon at Lower Granite Dam last month that were taken to Eagle Fish Hatchery in southwestern Idaho.
In all, more than 600 sockeye salmon reached Lower Granite Dam this year. More than 400 passed the dam to attempt the final leg of the journey to the Stanley area in central Idaho unaided — a 45-day trip on average. About 100 are expected to survive.
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