Salmon Abundance

Today, fourteen species of salmon and steelhead are listed as at risk of extinction under the Endangered Species Act. Still others have been petitioned for listing or have seen long-term declines.

One important way to measure recovery and the health of salmon species is by counting the number of adult fish that return from the ocean to spawn in their native rivers. The chart here provides a snapshot of fish abundance across the listed species.¹ This chart is based on the average number of adult fish returning to their home rivers to spawn, trends over time since listing under the federal Endangered Species Act, and input by expert insight from regional recovery organizations and Tribes. This provides a combined view of population status (how many fish are returning) and trend (whether numbers are increasing, decreasing, or staying the same).

Overall, there are some modest signs of improvement. Trends in abundance for lower Columbia River coho, Columbia River chum, and upper Columbia River steelhead and spring Chinook have improved since the previous report.

However, there are still far too many salmon in crisis or not keeping pace with recovery, including Chinook and steelhead in Puget Sound, Lake Ozette sockeye, Snake River spring/summer Chinook, and mid-Columbia steelhead, all of which have declined since the previous report. It will take increased efforts to improve the status of species in crisis and to maintain progress, especially in the face of ongoing challenges from climate change and population growth.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) evaluates attributes that are not shown in this report such as productivity, life history, genetic diversity, and the spatial structure (geographical spread) of the populations. NOAA also considers threats and factors affecting the health of fish including habitat, harvest, disease and predation, regulatory barriers, and other factors. NOAA’s analysis, called the five-year biological status review, determines if a species is healthy enough to be removed from the Endangered Species Act list. The chart above does not replace NOAA’s status review.

In the abundance dashboard above, is a more detailed breakdown of individual fish populations in the groups shown in the chart. The dashboard provides charts that display abundance of adult and juvenile fish populations. Adult abundance represents the number of adult fish returning to spawn (either total number of fish spawning naturally or number of wild-born fish spawning naturally). The type of adult abundance data available and used for evaluation depends on several factors, including the ability to distinguish between hatchery-origin and natural-origin (wild) fish on spawning grounds. In most cases, the fish that are counted toward recovery goals are wild spawners. The abundance of juvenile (young) salmon is one of several measures that tell scientists about the health and productivity of rivers in Washington State. Some rivers may have more juveniles simply because they are larger, other rivers may have more juveniles because the habitat is better. The juvenile and adult abundance data is from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. The department tracks juvenile abundance densities to varying degrees across the state.

The chart only depicts salmon and steelhead listed under the federal Endangered Species Act and only captures adult abundance for those species. While some populations are not listed under the Endangered Species Act, they face many of the same threats and many are declining in number. In 2023 and 2024, NOAA determined that two more populations in Washington (Olympic Peninsula steelhead and Washington Coast Chinook, respectively) may warrant protection as threatened or endangered species. If listed as threatened or endangered, these would constitute the first new listings of salmon or steelhead in Washington since 2007, when the federal government listed Puget Sound steelhead as threatened.

Overall, there are some modest signs of improvement. However, there are still far too many salmon in crisis or not keeping pace with recovery.

¹Data source: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Buehrens, T. W. and N. W. Kendall. 2025. Part 1: Status and trends analysis of adult abundance data, prepared in support of Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office, 2024 State of Salmon in Watershed Report.
Buehrens, T. W. and N. W. Kendall. Part 2: Adult abundance Analysis Review. Prepared in support of Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office, 2024 State of Salmon in Watershed Report.

Photograph of a coho salmon jumping at Hoko Falls, near Seiku on the Olympic Peninsula, was taken by Kevin Long, North Olympic Salmon Coalition.