“During the 1970s and 1980s, for every fish that spawned in the river, about six adult fish would return four years later. In recent years, after 20 years of steady decline, the number of fish returning for each spawner has dropped below one, culminating in 2009 when only 1.5 million sockeye returned despite predictions that 11 million fish would enter the river. This year, 34 million sockeye returned to the Fraser. “This year, productivity levels returned to about seven adults per spawner,” Peterman said. “That’s a dramatic turnaround, but one point does not make a trend.”