The Current Status of Kokanee in the Greater Lake Washington Watershed

A new report on kokanee salmon in the Lake Washington/Sammamish Watershed concludes early run kokanee are now functionally extinct in the Lake Sammamish basin and recommends actions to save other declining kokanee stocks in the watershed. Since 2000, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and King County have conducted early run kokanee spawner surveys on Issaquah Creek. The results of the 2000-2002 spawner surveys and the preliminary findings from surveys this summer show that no spawners were seen in the past three summers from the Issaquah Creek early-run kokanee population. Late run kokanee, which spawn in tributaries other than Issaquah Creek, are the healthiest of the remaining Lake Sammamish kokanee species, but remain in decline.

The report summarizes data collected by volunteers and County staff on late-run kokanee, discusses the history of kokanee in the basin, describes where they're currently found, discusses the relationship between kokanee and sockeye, and a suggested approach to better understand kokanee in the basin in the context of recovering native species.

The Current Status of Kokanee in the Greater Lake Washington Watershed report is provided here in version 4 of Adobe Acrobat, and is offerred in sections to reduce computer problems. For help using Acrobat, please visit our Acrobat Help Page.

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The Current Status of Kokanee in the Greater Lake Washington Watershed

Figure 1 - Historic and Current Kokanee Distribution in the Lake Washington/Sammamish Watershed

Figure 2 - Kokanee Survey Reaches - 1998 through 2001

Figure 5 - Figure 5: Issaquah Creek early-run kokanee spawning locations (1992-2001)

Appendix 1 - photographs

Appendix 2 - Early-run Kokanee Collection Facility in Issaquah Creek