LA GRANDE — A tanker truck carrying about 102,000 spring chinook salmon smolts crashed Friday near the Lookingglass Hatchery, about 20 miles north of Elgin.

The driver, who works for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, sustained minor injuries, according to a press release from the agency.

The 53-foot-long truck, hauling the young salmon for release in the Imnaha River, overturned on a sharp corner, went over a rocky embankment and rolled onto its roof.

About 77,000 smolts went into Lookingglass Creek, which flows beside the road, but the remaining 25,500 or so died.

“We are thankful the ODFW employee driving the truck was not seriously injured,” said Andrew Gibbs, ODFW fish hatchery coordinator for Eastern Oregon. “This should not impact our ability to collect future brood stock or maintain full production goals in the future.”

The Union County Sheriff’s Office responded immediately and assisted with on-scene assessments and vehicle recovery operations. Small amounts of diesel fuel were quickly contained and did not result in a hazardous material spill response, according to the press release.

Lookingglass Hatchery, which is north of Elgin, raises spring chinook as part of hydropower mitigation under the Lower Snake River Compensation Plan, for tribal and sport harvest, and to supplement the wild population on the Imnaha which is listed as threatened.

ODFW releases 490,000 chinook salmon smolts into the Imnaha River every year, Gibbs said. The smolts lost represent about 20% of the total that will be released this year. Fishery managers expect to see about 500 to 900 fewer adult fish returning in 2026 and 2027 due to the loss.

Gibbs explained that the loss is unlikely to impact the hatchery’s ability to raise enough smolts in future years.

Thousands of adult smolts typically return to the Imnaha River every year, he said, and the hatchery only needs 248 adults in order to get the required amount of eggs.

Chinook salmon smolts are native to all the tributaries of the Grande Ronde and Imnaha rivers, Gibbs said. So, the fish that made it into Lookingglass Creek should not cause issues. In fact, Gibbs said that there is a program that releases chinook salmon smolts into Lookingglass Creek.

Gibbs said that the hatched smolts are returned to the same waters where their parents were caught because any local adaptations passed along from the parents would make the smolts more adaptive and give them a better chance to survive.

However, he added, that since the smolts born at Lookingglass Hatchery were raised in the water from Lookingglass Creek, the fish that made it into the creek have a high likelihood to survive. Gibbs said that within 48-hours of their unintended release, smolts from the crash were located at the lower Grande Ronde River just a few miles from the mouth.

The 77,000 fish that made it into Lookingglass Creek will likely return there and produce approximately 350 to 700 additional adults.