12-Month Finding on a Petition to List Gulf of Alaska Chinook Salmon as Threatened or Endangered under the Endangered Species Act

On January 11, 2024, we received a petition from the Wild Fish Conservancy to delineate and list one or more evolutionarily significant units (ESUs) of Chinook salmon in southern Alaska as threatened or endangered under the ESA. It also requested that we designate critical habitat under the ESA concurrently with the listing.

On May 24, 2024, we published a positive 90-day finding (89 FR 45815) announcing that the petition, viewed in the context of information readily available in our files, presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating that the petitioned action may be warranted. We also announced the initiation of a status review of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon to determine whether listing under the ESA is warranted, as required by section 4(b)(3)(A) of the ESA.

Following the positive 90-day finding, the NOAA Fisheries Alaska Fisheries Science Center (AFSC) led a status review team (SRT) to complete a status review to evaluate the extinction risk of the species. The SRT defined three ESUs for GOA Chinook salmon (Southeast, Central, and Northwest GOA), and provided an extinction risk analysis for each ESU based on four demographic viability criteria (abundance, productivity, spatial distribution, and diversity) and the five ESA section 4(a)(1) factors.

On May 13, 2026, we announced the availability of the AFSC’s Technical Memorandum: Gulf of Alaska Chinook Salmon Status Review.

After considering all information, we concluded:

• Environmental variability is the most significant threat to all three ESUs.
• While current run sizes are trending low for many Gulf of Alaska stocks, fluctuations in abundance and productivity are typical of salmon populations, and many Gulf of Alaska stocks remain within the scope of historical variability or are showing signs of stabilization.
• Despite some declines in abundance and productivity, the ESUs exhibit large overall population sizes spread across multiple stocks, viable levels of productivity, broad spatial distributions, and high genetic and ecological diversity.
• High-quality, intact habitat, as well as proactive conservation and management practices, support population viability in each ESU.

After conducting both a demographic risk analysis and an analysis of threats, all three Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon ESUs were determined to be at low risk of extinction.

On May 14, 2026, we published a 12-month finding (91 FR 27271) announcing that the three ESUs of GOA Chinook salmon are not currently in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their ranges nor likely to become so within the foreseeable future. Therefore, Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon do not meet the definition of an endangered or threatened species and do not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act at this time.