Sockeye Salmon Return to Okanagan Lake After 100 Years

Sockeye salmon are making their long-awaited return to Okanagan Lake, marking a milestone in cultural and ecological restoration after more than 100 years.

The Okanagan Dam Fish Passage, a new bypass system developed by the Syilx Nation in partnership with the City of Penticton, the Province of B.C., and Fisheries and Oceans Canada, officially opened on August 18. The passage allows salmon and other fish species to move past barriers and back into the lake and its tributaries through the Columbia River system.

“This waterway will once again let our salmon continue their journey as they did thousands of years ago,” said Penticton Indian Band Chief Greg Gabriel during the opening ceremony. For the Syilx people, salmon — or ntytyix — are sacred relatives, not resources, and their return represents a powerful act of cultural and environmental healing.

The Okanagan Nation Alliance (ONA), a tribal council formed in 1981, has been leading salmon recovery efforts for decades. Project lead Zoe Eyjolfson explained that dams built in the Okanagan watershed since 1914 devastated salmon runs. “Salmon were at the brink of extinction,” she said, noting the cool waters of the region will now serve as a refuge for rebuilding populations.

The project was funded in part through the Habitat Conservation Plan tied to the Priest Rapids hydroelectric project in Washington State, which allocates money toward salmon and steelhead habitat restoration.

As salmon begin their migration from the Pacific Ocean, traveling hundreds of kilometres and passing nine hydroelectric dams along the Columbia River, the first wave is expected to reach Okanagan Lake within weeks.

For Syilx members, the moment carries profound meaning. “The salmon that return here will feed all people, not just mine,” said elder Leon Louis of the Lower Similkameen Indian Band. “That’s how important salmon is.”

Eyjolfson called the project’s completion deeply personal: “To know that my kids will see future generations of salmon come back to their historic waters — it’s a very special day.”