Bend Bulletin: More than 10,000 fish rescued in annual Deschutes River salvage operation

By Michael Kohn

More than 10,000 fish were recovered in a fish salvage operation earlier this week after dam operations left a channel of the Deschutes River without water.  The recovery effort saved 7,981 rainbow trout, 38 brown trout, 85 mountain whitefish and 2,118 sculpin for a total of 10,222 fish, according to Gina Maag-Klobas, a field biologist with Mount Hood Environmental, the consultancy hired to lead the project.  The effort to recover fish from the Lava Island side channel is an annual event in October after irrigation demands reduce the flow in the river. When the flow drops in the river, the side channel dries up, leaving fish stranded.

Fish were recovered this year from Saturday to Tuesday with help from volunteers. The project was organized by the Deschutes River Conservancy, a Bend-based nonprofit, and paid for by several irrigation districts in Central Oregon.  The number of fish recovered this year is higher than in previous years. Typically, the recovery effort nets around 6,500 to 7,000 fish.

Photo: Mount Hood Environmental field biologist Gina Maag-Klobas holds a few juvenile mountain whitefish and a brown trout collected from a side channel as they are recorded before being released downstream back into the Deschutes River on Saturday in Bend. 10/18/25 (Joe Kline/The Bulletin)

Read more at: https://bendbulletin.com/2025/10/20/lava-island-falls-fish-rescue-nets-thousands-as-river-levels-drop/

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