Unlike a typical salmon that dies after it spawns, steelhead can actually repeat spawn like freshwater trout. These repeat spawning steelhead, known as kelts, go back out to the ocean after they spawn to start the cycle over again.
 
Biologists at the Yakama Nation's Salmon hatchery in Prosser, Washington have been intercepting kelts after they've spawned and reconditioning them so they're healthier and stronger. 
 
“When we release them they look like they’re big and bright and full of eggs. They’ll go back into the tributaries and start spawning. After that, they’ll drift back out [to the ocean] like smolts and we’ll see them in March through June, ready to start another cycle,” says Joe Blodgett, fisheries biologist with the Tribe.
 
Watch a video about kelt reconditioning here: 

Other federal caucus partners, including the Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission (CRITFC) and the other lower river tribes, also conduct kelt reconditioning research and actions.