Kokanee salmon in Colorado @rockymtnpbs
Kokanee salmon in Colorado  @rockymtnpbs
Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
On a recent Wednesday morning, four employees with Colorado Parks and Wildlife spawned kokanee at Lake Nighthorse, collecting and fertilizing eggs. By 9 a.m., they had processed about 50 fish, with many more waiting.

Kokanee salmon were introduced to Colorado from Washington in 1951 as a game fish. Unlike ocean-going sockeye, kokanee salmon spend their entire lives in freshwater. They live about three years before returning in the fall to spawn and die days later.

Each year since 1951, CPW collects about 10 million kokanee eggs statewide from nine reservoirs. Biologists fertilize the eggs and raise the fish in hatcheries until they reach fingerling size. The young fish are then released across Colorado. Three years later, many return to the same waters where they were stocked.

Read the complete story at rmpbs.org
Produced by Ziyi Xu

#kokaneesalmon #salmon
Kokanee salmon in ColoradoHow Indigenous communities reconnect with their rootsGame 4 | “Back When It Was 5 Cents”Traditional Tuesday at Ute Mountain Ute schoolSpeed puzzling is growing in ColoradoDenver Community responds to Coresite data centerTrailer | Colorado Experience: Building the Colorado TrailAbove the Noise: Local News, Public Trust, and the Cost of ConsolidationDenver curler to compete in Paralympic Winter GamesBackcountry skiers chase the winter that wasntBehind the wheel at High Plains RacewaySpirit of Colorado: Adventure | RMPBS Retro
Rocky Mountain PBS |

Kokanee salmon in Colorado

SHARE TO X SHARE TO REDDIT SHARE TO FACEBOOK WALLPAPER