Fishery Programs

Each year, Tacoma Power plants up to 500,000 kokanee in Alder Lake to provide angling opportunities for visitors. Kokanee are landlocked sockeye salmon that live in Alder Lake for 2 to 3 years before spawning in area streams.  Tacoma Power began stocking kokanee in Alder Lake in 1999, although historically plants took place in Alder Lake in 1950s.

Monitoring Kokanee

To create a more productive and better quality fishery, Tacoma Power's fisheries staff collects information from Alder Lake anglers and performs spawning surveys of Alder Lake tributaries.  Catch rates, size data and the number of spawning fish determine the success of the fishery and help biologists monitor the kokanee population.  The goal is to ensure a quality fishery sustained by naturally spawning fish.

Unique Fish Marking

With the help of marked ear bones called otoliths, biologists can tell the difference between naturally produced kokanee and hatchery (stocked) kokanee in Alder Lake. The ear bones show growth characteristics much like rings on a tree.  Rings on the bone represent the growth of the fish. By fluctuating water temperatures in the hatchery environment, a pattern develops on the ear bone.  When viewed with a microscope, markings on the ear bones indicate whether a particular fish was planted and the age of the fish and when it was planted.  The ratio of otolith-marked fish (hatchery origin) to non-otolith marked fish (produced naturally) helps biologists determine the reproductive success of the fish spawning in the streams, and the number of kokanee to stock in Alder Lake in the future.

This is a microscopic look at an earbone from a marked hatchery kokanee. Notice the four dark bands.  The markings resulted from cycles of cold water that caused slower growth and dense bone formation

Warm Water Fishery

Alder Lake also has a productive warm water fishery. Largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, black crappie, and yellow perch provide exceptional angling opportunities. To increase habitat structures for these species, Tacoma Power has placed artificial reef structures in the northeastern areas of Alder Lake.  These structures, 300 in all, consist of anchored, upright bundles of hardwood limbs.  Tacoma Power is conducting a five-year study to evaluate the usage of the reefs by the warm water species of the reservoir.

Salmon Habitat Enhancement and Protection

A waterfall prevented anadromous (migrating) steelhead and salmon from traveling upstream of the LaGrande area before the Nisqually River Project dams were built. Therefore, Tacoma Power focuses on habitat enhancement activities downstream of the Nisqually River Project dams.  Tacoma Power supplements naturally low flows in the summer and fall months by releasing at least 300 cubic feet of water per second from LaGrande Dam.  The water distributes fish throughout the river and increases the available spawning and rearing habitat.

In addition, Tacoma Power fully funds the operation of the Nisqually Tribe's Clear Creek Hatchery.  This hatchery produces 4 million chinook smolts and one million coho smolts each year.  These plants result in adult returns to the hatchery of approximately 12,000 adult chinook and up to 4,000 adult coho annually.

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