{"id":15988,"date":"2025-10-24T20:05:48","date_gmt":"2025-10-25T02:05:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-kokanee-giveaway-canceled-amid-weak-salmon-run\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:53:34","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:53:34","slug":"dolores-kokanee-giveaway-canceled-amid-weak-salmon-run","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/dolores-kokanee-giveaway-canceled-amid-weak-salmon-run\/","title":{"rendered":"Dolores Kokanee giveaway canceled amid weak salmon run"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jim
Jim White, left, aquatic biologist for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and Keaton Hardy, also with CPW, give away Kokanee salmon to Barbara Bacon on Friday at Lake Nighthorse. CPW will host one more Kokanee giveaway at the lake to those who show up at 3 p.m. Nov. 17 with a valid 2023 fishing license. The fish are manually spawned by CPW officials and volunteers and then given away. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Colorado Parks and Wildlife has canceled the Thursday Kokanee salmon giveaway in Dolores because of low returns this fall. Biologists say another giveaway may happen in early November, but fish numbers are unlikely to improve.<\/p>\n

Field surveys are seeing \u201ctens of fish, not hundreds of fish, as it usually is\u201d in the spawning channel, said CPW aquatic biologist Kade Jackson, who is based in Durango.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re monitoring that population actively, checking it multiple times a week, but we\u2019re just not seeing numbers we\u2019re really able to do anything with,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n

The cancellation halts a longtime annual event that typically draws local families hoping to take home fresh fish.<\/p>\n

Dolores historically has been one of Southwest Colorado\u2019s strongest Kokanee sources, with hundreds of adult Kokanee returning to spawn\u2014enough to support CPW\u2019s egg sampling, field testing and public giveaways.<\/p>\n

Jackson said having Dolores offline means other wild, spawn-intake sessions this year face pressure to fill the gaps in their egg collection. Dolores typically contributes hundreds of thousands to nearly a million Kokanee eggs toward CPW\u2019s statewide goal of 9 million to 10 million eggs each fall, he said.<\/p>\n

Other Kokanee operations are still on track, Jackson said. Roaring Judy Hatchery near Gunnison is seeing a \u201cpretty significant Kokanee run this year,\u201d and giveaways there are underway. In 2024, CPW gathered 10.1 million eggs from nine locations.<\/p>\n

He added none of the giveaways planned at Lake Nighthorse in Durango have been canceled, and there is still \u201cpotentially the opportunity for people to get salmon from Lake Nighthorse\u201d while Dolores numbers are low. Those giveaway days are scheduled for Oct. 31, Nov. 7, Nov. 14 and Nov. 21.<\/p>\n

Dolores\u2019 low-population year is considered a one-off, or \u201cdown cycle,\u201d rather than an indicator of a long-term downward trend.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith that recent precipitation event we had, I think, the Dolores River went from 80 cubic feet per second to 1,000 cubic feet per second. That potentially flushed a few fish downstream that were getting ready to stage,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n

During fall runs, adult salmon swim back up to the spawning channel they imprinted on after three years in the reservoir.<\/p>\n

Typically, hundreds of salmon are guided into a structured area where CPW can collect them and their eggs to stock McPhee Reservoir, Lake Nighthorse and other reservoirs statewide. Some Kokanee are sent for lab testing to gauge overall health conditions and check for any parasites or disease.<\/p>\n

The leftover Kokanee, which are not sent for testing, die naturally after spawning. Instead of wasting food, salmon are distributed to licensed fishers, families and members of tribal nations during giveaway days.<\/p>\n

\"Keaton
Keaton Hardy, with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, get ready to give Kokanee salmon away November 2023 at Lake Nighthorse. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>
Factors contributing to a down-cycle year<\/div>\n

In recent years, Kokanee numbers at Blue Mesa Reservoir in Gunnison have dropped because of a parasite known as gill lice, said Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson John Livingston. Jackson said gill lice have not been detected in McPhee, the upper Dolores or San Juan River basins.<\/p>\n

This year\u2019s weak return could be a mix of environmental factors: drought-driven habitat causing heat stress, limited food, losses among stocked young or disrupted timing from recent rains. It could also be due to natural swings. Kokanee experience boom-and-bust years, Jackson said, and this season appears to be a down cycle rather than a long-term decline.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a natural system. Nature is pretty cyclical, and it has its ups and downs, and we\u2019re just happening be experiencing one of those down years,\u201d Jackson said.<\/p>\n

He said CPW crews and fishers have observed unusually large Kokanee, which Jackson said could mean lower overall population density.<\/p>\n

CPW expects to know early next week whether any salmon return is large enough to support a Nov. 6 giveaway in Dolores. Jackson said residents may check for updates through CPW before making plans.<\/p>\n

He said a large enough intake is unlikely, but CPW will provide updates if that changes.<\/p>\n

\"Colorado
Colorado Parks and Wildlife monitors Dolores River Kokanee each fall at the McPhee Reservoir. Low returns this fall prompted officials to cancel next week\u2019s giveaway. (Courtesy of Colorado Parks and Wildlife)<\/span>Jerry McBride<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

popular fall tradition on hold with low numbers leaving little to give out<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15989,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[1031,44,341,1909,28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-colorado-parks-and-wildlife","tag-dolores","tag-dolores-river","tag-dolores-river-state-wildlife-area","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15988"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20973,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15988\/revisions\/20973"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15988"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}