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BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The Latest on endangered Snake River sockeye salmon at a hatchery threatened with flooding (all times local):
4:15 p.m.
Idaho officials announced late Wednesday that endangered Snake River sockeye salmon at a southwest Idaho hatchery will be moved because flood waters from the nearby Boise River are threatening the facility.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game says that starting Thursday some 4,000 fish will be removed from the Eagle Fish Hatchery west of Boise and trucked to the Springfield Fish Hatchery in eastern Idaho.
Snake River sockeye teetered on the brink of extinction in the early 1990s.
They've been the focus of an intense recovery program centered at the Eagle Fish Hatchery after being listed for federal protection in 1991.
The hatchery holds broodstock that produce future generations of fish.
Officials say the primary fear is floodwater reaching electrical pumps needed to keep oxygenated water circulating.
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11:50 a.m.
High water is threatening a fish hatchery in southwestern Idaho that raises endangered Snake River sockeye salmon, and plans are in place to evacuate 4,000 fish if power gets knocked out.
Idaho Department of Fish and Game spokesman Mike Keckler on Wednesday says sandbags are in place at the Eagle Fish Hatchery near the Boise River and workers make daily patrols for leaks.
Officials say the primary fear is flood water reaching electrical pumps needed to keep oxygenated water circulating.
Keckler says hatchery trucks are available as a precaution to transport fish to a hatchery in eastern Idaho if needed.
Snake River sockeye have been the focus of an intense recovery program centered at the Eagle Fish Hatchery after being listed for federal protection in the 1990s.
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