Approximately 50 people affiliated with the Lake Sammamish Kokanee Work Group observed the release of 200 kokanee fry into Ebright Creek Wednesday afternoon.

This was the third release over the last month. Close to 40,000 fry — no bigger than the size of a pinky — have now been taken from area hatcheries and returned to the creek in hopes of preventing the Lake Sammamish kokanee from fading into extinction.

Wednesday’s release acknowledged Earth Day, and all the people involved in aiding the conservation of the species.

“Returning these young, native kokanee to their watershed represents a significant milestone in our partnership’s efforts to restore this beleaguered species,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine, who came out for the celebration. “It is very gratifying to see these fish returning to their native habitat — especially as we honor the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.”

The effort to restore the kokanee population began last fall when biologists collected adult fish from Ebright Creek. The fish spawned and reared young in hatcheries on the Cedar River and Chambers Creek near Lakewood before being released.

“This is an important day for kokanee and the community that is helping them avoid extinction,” said Sammamish Mayor Don Gerend. “These fish have taken blow after blow for decades, and are just hanging on by a thread. It’s nice to finally take a step toward their recovery, after so many steps toward their extinction.”

According to David St. John, chairman of the Lake Sammamish Kokanee Work Group, the Lake Sammamish kokanee fish numbers had dropped to approximately 200, and were under 70 total two years ago.

The next step is to begin spawning the fish in the Issaquah hatchery, eventually hoping to not have to worry about hatcheries at all.

“We want the fish population to grow enough to sustain itself in the habitat, so we don’t have to have a hatchery,” St. John said. “Long-term, we’d like for the streams and lake to support a population that’s robust.”

The ultimate hope, according to St. John, would be to have people allowed to fish for the kokanee species once again.

Kokanee salmon are close relatives of sockeye salmon. They differ from sockeye mostly by virtue of their freshwater-only life cycle — they enter Lake Sammamish soon after emerging from the stream or lakeshore gravel, and reside in the lake for three years before returning to their home stream or shoreline to spawn and die. They also are roughly half the size of sockeye that go to the ocean for several years prior to making their spawning run.

The Lake Sammamish kokanee population is one of only two native to the Puget Sound basin. Historically it likely numbered in the tens of thousands and ranged around the Lake Washington watershed.