October 17, 2025 — Nearly 92,000 sockeye salmon returned to the Baker River this year. That’s a historic milestone for nearby tribes, state wildlife officials and the hydroelectric utility that caused the decline — and helped bring the fish back.
Scott Schuyler, the Upper Skagit Indian Tribe’s policy representative for cultural natural resources, has been watching the fish run for more than 40 years.
“We basically lost this run,” said Schuyler, a tribal member and elder. “Back in 1985 the run went down to 80-ish or so fish, which is basically extinct. And it was due to hydropower that caused their demise, and it was hydropower that helped fix the run to get to where we are today.”
Schuyler said the tribe once had a fishing village called S.báliuqʷ (pronounced ‘sih-’BALL’-ih-QUE’) on Baker Lake.
“That’s where people lived and died and fished and hunted since time immemorial,” he said.