Species: Oncorhynchus nerka pop. 1

Oceanic habitat includes the North Pacific off the coast of Alaska, Canada, Washington, and Oregon. Formerly this sockeye spawned in tributaries of Payette Lake, Idaho, and Stanley, Redfish, and Alturas lakes in the Stanley Basin, Idaho (Spahr et al. 1991). Spawning and rearing range currently is limited to Redfish Lake system; this population migrates between the Pacific Ocean and Redfish Lake via the Salmon, Snake, and Columbia rivers. In the early 1990s, populations in Alturas, Pettit, Yellowbelly, Stanley, and Little Redfish lakes in the Snake River Basin were regarded as extirpated (Williams et al. 1992).<br><br>Good et al. (2005) summarized recent status and genetic research as follows: (1) Native populations of <i>O. nerka</i> from the Stanley Basin (including Redfish Lake sockeye salmon and kokanee and Alturas Lake kokanee) are genetically quite divergent from all other North American <i>O. nerka</i> populations that have been examined. (2)Within this group, Redfish Lake sockeye and kokanee are genetically distinct, and Alturas Lake kokanee are most similar to Redfish Lake kokanee. (3) Two gene pools of <i>O. nerka</i> were identified in Stanley Lake-one may be the remnant of a native gene pool that survived rotenone treatments in the lake, while the other can be traced to introductions from Wizard Falls Hatchery in Oregon. (4) No trace of the original gene pool of <i>O. nerka</i> has been found in Pettit Lake. Efforts are underway to reestablish spawning populations in the Alturas and Pettit lake systems.<br>