Recovery Plan Progress in the Puget Sound

The Vision

Puget Sound salmon recovery work is the cornerstone of broader Puget Sound recovery efforts, and abundant wild Chinook salmon populations are vital to this effort. The largest of the salmon species, Chinook salmon are significant culturally and an important economic resource for Puget Sound tribes, a favorite food of southern resident orcas, and highly prized by the recreational and commercial fishing industries. A variety of pressures–including population growth and infrastructure, agriculture, fish barriers, contaminants, and stormwater pollution–have reduced Puget Sound Chinook populations to one-third of their early-1900s numbers. Without a significant reversal in these trends, along with increased habitat protection efforts, Puget Sound Chinook are unlikely to recover.

Recovery partners know what is needed to restore salmon populations in Puget Sound. Many of the restoration actions in Puget Sound have been effective in improving local habitat quantity and quality. Yet, even with these efforts the region is not seeing significant increases in the number of Chinook salmon because many of the same challenges noted in the 2007 Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan persist. In addition, emerging challenges–including climate change, balancing salmon needs with the needs of a growing human population, and early marine survival–also require consideration and integration into recovery efforts.

Chinook still are returning to Puget Sound’s rivers and streams despite facing so many challenges. While their numbers have not increased, the population has not been lost. Now is the time to act and there is much to do. The region needs to work with decision-makers to protect and restore critical habitat and ensure that there is cold, clean water in rivers. Local government needs resources and capacity to incentivize and enforce development in the right areas. The region must work with federal and state agencies to support ongoing and new programs that support salmon recovery, streamline permitting, and address predation. Only together can the region find solutions to complex challenges like climate change, land-use planning, and transportation infrastructure impacts so that it can protect and restore salmon habitat successfully and realize the recovery of Chinook salmon.

Regional Plan Update

Salmon recovery in Washington is driven by regional salmon recovery plans. The recovery plans provide the actions and rationale for where to invest and when. Each region reports on the actions implemented related to what is recommended in the regional recovery plan. The information about recovery plan implementation is grounded in the regional organizations’ extensive knowledge of recovery issues and recovery progress.

In 2024, the Partnership finalized the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan Addendum, adding strategies and actions to the plan’s regional chapter, incorporating new information, and outlining the Puget Sound regional recovery organization structure, responsibilities, and accountability. The addendum will guide the Puget Sound regional salmon recovery organization’s salmon recovery actions during the next ten years. The addendum contains clear regional strategies and actions to enhance and accelerate the watersheds’ work on the ground and address regional issues impacting salmon recovery.

Plan Progress

Floodplains and estuaries provide critical habitat for salmon. Since 2011, partners have improved 9,550 acres of floodplains, and since 2019, restored tidal flooding to 3,430 acres of estuarine river delta wetlands. Learn more in the Puget Sound Partnership’s State of the Sound.
Using the Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration fund, partners have improved 13,916 acres of salmon habitat, permanently protected more than 15,589 acres through land purchases, and opened about 158 miles to fish passage since 2007. These projects have created more than forty-seven hundred jobs, leveraged $134 million in federal and other matching funds, and generated about $840 million in economic activity. More than $352 million has been awarded through the fund since 2007 to support high-priority salmon habitat restoration and protection projects. Many of the projects funded through the fund provide multiple benefits for salmon, the environment, and the surrounding communities where projects are implemented.

Background: Salmon recovery in Washington is driven by regional salmon recovery plans. The recovery plans provide the actions and rationale for where to invest and when. Each region reports on the actions implemented related to what is recommended in the regional recovery plan. The information about recovery plan implementation is grounded in the regional organizations’ extensive knowledge of recovery issues and recovery progress.