Salmon

Salmon Numbers Improving but Work Still Needed

In 2023, a report showed sixteen populations are meeting recovery goals and twenty-six populations that improved since 1998, when salmon were first listed in the region.

Fall Chinook Salmon

• Out of fifteen populations, five are meeting their abundance goals and two are growing.
• Most populations have low numbers of wild-spawning fish. Challenges include habitat limitations, competition with hatchery fish, and harvest rates.
• Five populations have better viability than when they were listed.

Spring Chinook Salmon

• None of the seven populations have met their abundance goals or improved in viability since listing.
• Recovery depends on successfully reintroducing fish upstream of dams in the Cowlitz and Lewis Rivers, and Sediment Retention Structure of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the North Fork Toutle River watershed.

Chum Salmon

• Of eleven populations, three are meeting their abundance goals and four are growing.
• Challenges include low numbers of salmon and limited distribution, especially in the Cascade Mountain Range watersheds.
• Three populations have better viability than when they were listed.

Coho Salmon

• Of seventeen populations, eight are meeting abundance goals and fifteen are growing.
• Challenges include limited habitat and competition with hatchery fish.
• Seven populations have better viability than when they were listed.

Steelhead

• None of twenty-two populations are meeting abundance goals or growing.
• Nine populations have better viability than when they were listed.
• Challenges include maintaining and restoring headwater habitats and reintroduction into habitat above dams.

View data on Salmon web page