Key Takeaways
Declining salmon runs severely impact Tribes’ treaty rights to harvest fish and harm Tribal cultures. The Puget Sound Partnership works with Tribes to achieve shared salmon recovery goals.
Development continues to destroy habitat faster than it is restored. Funding is too low to achieve salmon recovery targets and balance the needs of more than four million Puget Sound region residents.
Climate change impacts salmon throughout their lives. Warming water, high winter and low summer streamflows, and rising sea levels affect salmon at every life stage. Incorporating climate change projections into recovery planning and taking action is crucial to move towards regional Puget Sound Chinook salmon recovery.
About the Region
Among the largest estuaries in the United States, Puget Sound encompasses mountains, farmlands, cities, rivers, forests, and wetlands. It is home to chum, pink, sockeye, coho, and Chinook salmon, and steelhead and bull trout. All fifty-nine populations of Chinook, steelhead, and bull trout are listed under the Endangered Species Act, as are endangered Southern Resident orcas that rely on salmon, especially Chinook, for food.
Western Washington Tribes have been connected intimately to Puget Sound since time immemorial and are leaders in salmon recovery. The Puget Sound Partnership is the state agency leading the region’s collective effort to restore and protect Puget Sound. The Partnership creates and manages the infrastructure to enable and encourage hundreds of recovery partners to collaboratively develop and implement priority actions needed to accelerate ecosystem recovery. The Leadership Council is the governing body of the Partnership and serves as the regional organization for Puget Sound salmon recovery (except for Hood Canal summer chum).
