12-Month Finding on a Petition to List Oregon Coast Chinook Salmon and Southern Oregon and Northern California Coastal Chinook Salmon as Threatened or Endangered Under the Endangered Species Act

On August 4, 2022, we received a petition to list the Oregon Coast (OC) and Southern Oregon and Northern California Coastal (SONCC) Chinook salmon Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) or, alternatively, list only spring-run Chinook salmon in both the OC and SONCC ESUs as threatened or endangered under the ESA.

On January 11, 2023, we published a positive 90-day finding (88 FR 1548) announcing that the petition presented substantial scientific and commercial information indicating the petitioned actions to list the OC and SONCC ESUs may be warranted. With respect to the request to list only the spring-run components of those ESUs, we found that the petition did not present substantial scientific and commercial information indicating that the petitioned action was warranted. We also announced the initiation of a status review of the OC and SONCC Chinook salmon ESUs, as required by section 4(b)(3)(A) of the ESA.

On January 6, 2023, the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region (WCR) requested that the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) initiate and lead a status review team to complete a status review of the species to evaluate the extinction risk of the species. We now announce the availability of the NWFSC’s Biological Status of Oregon Coast and Southern Oregon/Northern California Coastal Chinook Salmon: Report of the Status Review Team.

On December 9, 2025, we published a 12-month finding (90 FR 56993) announcing that OC and SONCC Chinook salmon ESUs do not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act. Based on our review of the best available scientific and commercial information and the findings of the status review report, we determined that the OC and SONCC Chinook salmon ESUs are not currently in danger of extinction, nor are they likely to become so within the foreseeable future.

In the rangewide extinction risk assessment for OC and SONCC Chinook salmon, we concluded that both ESUs are at low-risk of extinction and do not warrant listing under the ESA. The OC and SONCC Chinook salmon ESUs are at low risk of extinction due to similar factors. They both have high overall abundance, with numerous, well-distributed spawning populations. Additionally, their high productivity allows them to maintain abundance even in the face of relatively high exploitation rates. In evaluation of the threat factors identified in section 4(a)(1) of the ESA, we concluded that the factors do not contribute substantially to rangewide extinction risk now or in the foreseeable future.

We followed the rangewide assessment with a significant portion of its range extinction risk assessment and we did not find any portions of the OC or SONCC ESU’s range that were both significant and at risk of extinction.