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October 8, 2025

Record return of sockeye salmon to Skagit-Baker watershed

  • Sockeye populations had declined to just 99 returning fish in the mid-1980s, bringing the species to near extinction in the waters near Mount Baker.
    • By JOURNAL STAFF

    Photo courtesy of PSE [enlarge]
    This effort included new fish-passage facilities, a new fish hatchery and second Lower Baker powerhouse for better river-flow control, and work on riparian habitat.

    A record number of sockeye salmon returned to Skagit Bay and the Skagit River this year on their annual spawning migration. From June through October, more than 91,880 sockeye returned to the Skagit River system on their journey to Baker River and Baker Lake, Puget Sound Energy (PSE), the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe (USIT), the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) announced Tuesday.


     
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