Saving Pacific Salmon and Steelhead
NOAA Fisheries says Pacific salmon and steelhead are central to West Coast ecosystems, economies, and Indigenous cultures, but many populations remain under serious pressure from habitat loss, degraded water quality, barriers to migration, over-harvest, climate change, and other human impacts.
The agency has listed 28 species of salmon and steelhead on the U.S. West Coast as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Its recovery strategy focuses on science-based action, including protecting and reconnecting habitat, improving water quality and quantity, supporting sustainable harvest, restoring access to historic spawning areas, preserving genetic diversity, and working with tribes, states, fishers, and local communities.
The strategy reinforces that salmon recovery requires coordinated, long-term action across entire watersheds, from mountain streams to the ocean, to rebuild populations and protect the ecosystems and communities that depend on them.