Ocean Ecosystem Indicators of Pacific Salmon Marine Survival in the Northern California Current

Long-term monitoring of ocean conditions and their effect on juvenile Pacific salmon survival off Oregon and Washington.

West Coast

What We Do

How do ocean conditions affect ocean fisheries? Since 1996, the Northwest Fisheries Science Center has monitored the ocean environment off the Washington and Oregon coasts, its interaction with the California Current, and how ocean conditions affect fisheries with a focus on Pacific salmon.

2020 Ocean Conditions

Our ocean indices combine a suite of oceanographic data to capture the changing ecosystem. These indicators characterize ocean conditions experienced by juvenile salmon entering the northern California Current. We rate each indicator in terms of whether the relative impact on the marine survival of juvenile salmon is "good," "poor," or "fair".

ocean conditions in 2020 ranked as good, fair or poor. The PDO was ranked fair, the ONI was ranked poor, the deep temperature was ranked poor, the deep salinity was ranked poor, the biological transition was ranked good, ichthyoplankton was ranked good, chinook catch was ranked fair, coho catch was ranked fair

Ocean Conditions Affect Salmon Returns

We analyze various ocean conditions to develop "stoplight" tables that can be used to forecast adult salmon returns.

"Stoplight" Table (Last 10 years)

A chart derived from ocean ecosystem indicators data and color-coded to reflect ocean conditions for salmon growth and survival (green = good; yellow = intermediate; red = poor). Lower numbers indicate better ocean ecosystem conditions, or "green lights" for salmon growth and survival. Using these indicators, we provide annual outlooks of salmon returns 1 – 2 years in advance of their return to their natal streams. — We compare all the years of sampling data to arrive at rank scores for each ocean ecosystem indicator. Then we color-code each indicator based on its score to reflect ocean conditions for salmon growth and survival (green = good; yellow = fair; red = poor).

"Stoplight" Table (1998-current)

ocean conditions trend from 1998 to 2020 across climate and atmospheric, local physical and local biological indicators.

Raw Data

Download the raw data file (.CSV)

Dive Deeper into the Ocean Indicators

View our methods and background materials

Learn about ancillary data and future indicators in development

More Information

Newportal Blog

Pacific Salmon and Steelhead

California Current Integrated Ecosystem Assessment

Staff

Northwest Fisheries Science Center Fish Ecology staff

Kym Jacobson, Research Zoologist, Newport Field Station
Brian Burke, Research Fisheries Biologist
JoAnne Butzerin, Technical Writer/Editor
Bill Peterson, Late Oceanographer, Newport Field Station

Cooperative Institute for Marine Resources Studies (CIMRS) staff

Jennifer Fisher, Senior Research Assistant, Oregon State University
Cheryl Morgan, Senior Research Assistant, Oregon State University
Samantha Zeman, Research Assistant, Oregon State University

Last updated by Northwest Fisheries Science Center on 04/15/2021

Ecosystems Climate

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A NOAA aerial survey crew gathers in front of a NOAA Twin Otter aircraft during a stop in Astoria, Oregon in 2014. From left: Lt. Michael Sandor Silagi, Office of Marine and Aviation Operations; Joel Schumacher, Scott Benson, and Tomoharu Eguchi, Southwest Fisheries Science Center; Camryn Allen, Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center; Dan Prosperi, Southwest Fisheries Science Center; and Lt. Shanae Coker, Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.

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Ocean Ecosystem Indicators of Pacific Salmon Marine Survival in the Northern California Current

Table of Contents

What We Do

2020 Ocean Conditions

2020 Annual Summary of Ocean Indicators

All Annual Summaries of Ocean Indicators

Large-Scale and Local Indicators