Local steel maker is trying to help grow salmon population

POCATELLO, Idaho (KIFI) - One steel maker out of Pocatello has been partnering with the Shoshone Bannock Tribe to create new hatcheries. This has been in the works for the past five years.

Salmon and steelhead fish are both a natural staple of the wildlife found in the rivers of Idaho. For centuries, they have swam through many of our local rivers. The number of fish thought is quickly declining.

Both fish are now currently on the endangered species list and could be looking at even extinction in the next decade. This is due to a variety of reasons from the eight dams down the Snake and Columbia Rivers to the warming temperatures. It takes fish weeks now to migrate from the Pacific Ocean to Idaho instead of a matter of three or four days in centuries past.

In previous years, the Shoshone Bannock Tribes would use something similar to Tupperware. It would hold the eggs, but most of these containers would not be sturdy enough to stay in place. Most of them would be flushed out down the river in a few days.

The Hatch Partner with Partner Steel Co. is a new hatchery to help revitalize the population. It uses lightweight steel to hold onto the eggs. Food is let in naturally without letting in any predators. It will hold up to 10,000 eggs before they are released freely back into the river.