Petition To List the Washington Coast Chinook Salmon As Threatened or Endangered Under the ESA

We, NOAA Fisheries, announce a 90-day finding on a petition to list spring-run Chinook salmon on the Washington Coast (WC) or, alternatively, list the existing WC Chinook salmon Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU) as threatened or endangered under the ESA. The petitioners also request the designation of critical habitat concurrent with ESA listing. We find that the petition presents substantial scientific and commercial information indicating the petitioned action to list may be warranted. We will conduct a status review of Chinook salmon on the Washington Coast to determine whether the petitioned action to list is indeed warranted.

In December 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 Washington Coast Chinook Salmon: Report of the Status Review Team.