NOAA is responsible for preventing salmon extinction and returning populations to healthy levels. U.S. West Coast salmon contribute to our culture, feed our families, and support jobs in the fishing fleet and beyond. They give back to the ecosystem as food for predators and by fertilizing watersheds with rich marine nutrients. Supporting Pacific salmon recovery is particularly beneficial to cultural heritage and livelihoods of Pacific Northwest tribes. Tribal traditional knowledge of Pacific salmon is vital to the conservation and restoration of the species. Twenty-eight West Coast salmon and steelhead groups are listed as threatened or endangered, from southern California to Washington State.
Learn more about pacific salmon and steelhead
Using Science to Support Pacific Salmon Recovery
Each salmon species has a robust recovery plan developed through years of work and collaboration with communities and managers. Using the best available science, these plans identify actions needed to recover the species so they can again contribute fully to our communities, economies, and ecosystems. Recovering salmon depends on healthy and resilient habitats to support salmon at every life stage. But climate change and other threats make salmon recovery a complex and challenging task. Major climate threats include sea level rise, freshwater level fluctuations, hotter temperatures, changes in snowpack and snowmelt, flooding, and ocean acidification. The same actions that improve salmon resilience to these impacts can also increase human community resilience.
NOAA Fisheries is investing in science that will lead to improved management actions and substantial gains in Pacific salmon recovery. This will advance NOAA Fisheries’ comprehensive strategy, which includes:
- Connecting habitat
- Ensuring water quality and quantity
- Managing fishing
- Investing in science
- Continuing production hatcheries
Robust science is critical to adaptively manage our rich and diverse Pacific salmon populations and address uncertainties in a changing climate. We will invest in the most effective solutions for each watershed along the West Coast. We can use what we learn to make more informed decisions that have a big influence on Pacific salmon survival and, ultimately, recovery. We will move Pacific salmon closer to healthy and harvestable levels that benefit our West Coast ecosystems, communities, and economies.
Through years of research, we have identified the challenges that prevent us from achieving healthy and harvestable Pacific salmon populations. However, we don't know enough about how the complex interactions between various factors affect salmon recovery within each watershed. We are still learning how habitat, water, predation, and other factors affect salmon populations’ survival. This is an opportunity to boost the important and impactful research in areas identified in our salmon science strategies:
- Northwest Fisheries Science Center’s salmon science recovery strategy
- Southwest Fisheries Science Center’s salmon science plan
Actions to Improve Salmon Science
We will prioritize salmon science actions in four areas:
Develop and Apply Integrated Models
These computer models simulate the interactions between different components of an ecosystem and predict salmon abundance. Improving models and producing more reliable predictions will help us develop better management strategies for the long-term survival of Pacific salmon.
Restoration, Reintroduction, and Recovery Techniques
Assessing successful and unsuccessful restoration methods will lead to meaningful conservation and management decisions. We will determine if reintroduced salmon can adapt to future environmental conditions.
Habitat Stressors in Freshwater and Estuary Environments
Pacific salmon use freshwater and estuary ecosystems habitats for spawning, rearing, migration, feeding, and overwintering. However, pollution poses a threat to these environments. We will investigate the impacts of stormwater pollutants on salmon and incorporate toxicity data into salmon management decision-making.
Ocean and Nearshore Ecology
Salmon spend most of their lives in the ocean, feeding until they reach maturity. Both predation and climate impacts on marine food webs pose significant threats to their survival in the ocean. Using advanced technologies, we will measure indicators of ocean productivity and predation rates to improve predictions of salmon survival and growth.
Within each focus area is a list of proposed projects. We will base project selection on responsiveness to the Climate-Ready Fisheries goals, feasibility, budget, and capacity maintenance and expansion.
Pacific Salmon Projects
Habitat Restoration
We will continue to support conservation efforts through the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund. This will prioritize large-scale habitat restoration projects with transformational watershed and salmon population benefits. The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund is supported by multiple partners committed to recovering salmon.
High-Priority Science and Research
Our two West Coast science centers will conduct science that supports transformative modeling to identify and prioritize high-impact restoration. The Northwest and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers will spearhead this effort. We’ll build on past efforts and transform our understanding of how habitat, predation, and other factors affect salmon recovery. Specifically, we’ll build quantitative decision-making tools to guide recovery and fill data gaps that make those tools more accurate.
