A new study indicates a biological Hail Mary employed to save Idaho’s critically imperiled sockeye salmon may have saved the species from extinction, and it shows promise the long-distance swimmers may one day recover.

Paul Kline, assistant chief of the Idaho Department of Fish and Game Fisheries Bureau, and Thomas Flagg, a supervisory fisheries biologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, published the study in Fisheries, a journal published by the American Fisheries Society.

The two scientists say data indicates the offspring of sockeye salmon that spawn naturally in Redfish Lake return from the ocean at a rate more than triple the return rate of sockeye raised in hatcheries.

That finding alone isn’t revolutionary. What makes it significant is that sockeye spawning in the wild and producing those better-returning fish are the product of hatcheries. They’re part of the state’s effort to use artificial production to not only stave off extinction but also seed Redfish Lake and other Sawtooth Valley lakes with spawners.

“This is a real American endangered species success story,” said Will Stelle, administrator of NOAA Fisheries’ West Coast Region. “With only a handful of remaining fish, biologists brought the best genetic science to bear and the region lent its lasting support. Now there is real potential that this species will be self-sustaining again. The sockeye didn’t give up hope and neither did we.”