Record return of sockeye salmon marks major milestone for PSE and our Tribal partners

PSE, the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe (USIT), the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) are proud to announce that this year a record number of sockeye salmon returned to Skagit Bay and the Skagit River on their annual spawning migration. From June through October 2025, more than 91,880 sockeye returned to the Skagit River system on their journey to Baker River and Baker Lake. 

This historic return represents a remarkable conservation success story and marks a significant milestone in the 21-year collaborative effort that began with PSE's Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) license negotiations in 2004. The achievement is particularly meaningful given that sockeye populations in the Baker River system had declined to just 99 returning fish in the mid-1980s, bringing the species to near extinction in these waters near Mount Baker. 

The Baker Hydroelectric Project’s license called for major PSE initiatives to further enhance fish populations in the Skagit-Baker watershed for tribal, commercial, and recreational harvest opportunities, as well as restoration of native salmon stocks to sustainable population levels. This effort has included the installation of new upstream and downstream fish-passage facilities, construction of a new fish hatchery, construction of a second Lower Baker powerhouse for better river-flow control, and riparian-habitat protection and enhancement.

The 2025 record adult sockeye return of nearly 92,000 and record juvenile emigration of over 1.5 million demonstrates the power of collaborative partnerships in species recovery efforts.

Check out a short video of the sockeye salmon returning to PSE's fish trap below Lower Baker Dam here. Read more about this major effort here.