Salmon are fish that live in freshwater streams as young fish and later move to the ocean as adults. They lay their eggs in clean, cool streams with stable gravel beds, where their young grow. These streams must have enough water flow, good water quality, and features like deep pools, shallow fast-moving areas, fallen trees, and plants along the stream banks that provide shade, food, and protection. Estuaries and coastal areas near the ocean are important places where young salmon adjust to saltwater, find food, and stay safe before traveling to the ocean. Keeping streams free-flowing, cool, and clean with healthy vegetation along the banks is necessary for salmon to live and reproduce successfully.

Wild salmon need good places to lay eggs and raise their young. These habitats are the main focus for people who work to protect wildlife. Salmon habitats can be harmed by activities like building homes, cutting down trees, or mining. These problems have led to traditional ways of protecting salmon, but a new effort is trying to preserve their habitats before problems occur.

History of salmon decline

Wild salmon in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and southern British Columbia have been decreasing for more than 160 years. Their numbers are now very low. Many efforts to help salmon return to healthier levels have been made, but these efforts have not been very successful.

Salmon in the lower 48 states are becoming similar to other animals, such as wolves, condors, grizzly bears, and bison. These animals are not likely to disappear completely, but they have very small populations and live only in parts of their original areas. In California, Oregon, Idaho, Washington, and southern British Columbia, many salmon populations have dropped to less than 10% of their historical numbers. Some populations no longer exist. In many areas, most salmon are raised in hatcheries instead of being born in the wild. In the Columbia River, which once had one of the largest salmon populations, more than 80% of the salmon are now hatchery-bred.

The decline of salmon is not only happening in western North America. Historically, salmon lived in four areas of the world: the Asian Far East, Atlantic Europe, eastern North America, and western North America. It is likely that, without major changes, salmon populations in California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and southern British Columbia will follow the same pattern as the other three areas, where salmon numbers have greatly decreased or disappeared completely. Since the late 1840s, many factors have caused salmon numbers to drop, and many problems have made it hard for salmon to recover. In many areas, wild salmon populations (a group of fish that can breed with each other) have declined or disappeared.

Salmon and their habitats along the west coast of North America are not the same everywhere. Some areas have better conditions for salmon and habitat restoration than others. In places like the coastal watersheds of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, and parts of southern British Columbia, there are still relatively healthy wild salmon populations and habitats. Salmon populations in northern British Columbia, Yukon, and Alaska are in much better condition.

Past policy choices

1820–1840 — In the early 1800s, trappers arrived in the Pacific Northwest, leading to regular and heavy trapping of beavers. Large numbers of beavers can change water environments, often improving areas where young salmon grow. As beaver populations dropped, many salmon runs suffered. During a time when the United States and Great Britain competed for control of the Pacific Northwest, the British Hudson’s Bay Company decided to trap all beavers in their areas. This was to prevent American trappers and settlers from coming to the region. The full effect of nearly wiping out beavers on West Coast salmon is unknown, but it was likely very large.

1848 — A major event in the long decline of wild salmon was the discovery of gold in California. By 1849, salmon numbers began to fall sharply, and newspapers widely reported this. By the 1850s, overfishing and mining had greatly reduced salmon in California’s Central Valley. Rules were later made to limit some fishing and mining practices. Later, people suggested building salmon hatcheries to help increase salmon numbers after mining damaged their habitats.

1870–1900 — In California’s Central Valley, after 30 years of fewer salmon, hatcheries were seen as the answer to the problem. By 1900, using hatcheries to raise and release salmon became more popular than trying to protect or restore natural habitats.

1905–1939 — The goal of “reclaiming the Klamath Basin” (near Oregon and California) showed the values of that time. The main goal was to create farmland through irrigation. Irrigated farming was chosen over protecting salmon. Over the next decades, millions of dollars were spent to build dams and canals in the Klamath Basin and other areas.

1929–39 — During the Great Depression, the goal of “putting people to work” influenced decisions. Large public projects, like the high dams in the Columbia Basin, were built even though they would harm salmon. One dam, the Grand Coulee, blocked a quarter of the Columbia Basin, stopping salmon from migrating for 1,000 miles.

1941–45 — Posters in public places said “America — the Arsenal of Democracy.” Many warplanes were needed quickly, so electricity production in the Pacific Northwest increased to support aluminum smelters. Hydroelectric power was used at full capacity for four years, causing serious harm to salmon. The war effort took priority over protecting salmon.

1948 — Severe floods caused major damage, and politicians responded by building flood control dams in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and British Columbia. People wanted to protect lives and property from dangerous river floods.

1955–65 — After World War II, air conditioning became widely used in homes and businesses. By 1960, this had two effects on salmon: (1) much higher electricity use, and (2) more people moving to areas that were previously too hot to live in. This increased electricity demand in both winter and summer, requiring more power plants and transmission lines.

1991–2011 — The first group of salmon, called a “distinct population segment,” was listed under the Endangered Species Act. This shifted the focus from helping salmon support fishing to protecting salmon from extinction. A century ago, few cared whether salmon were born in hatcheries or streams. Now, some say hatchery-raised salmon are part of the problem, not the solution.

2001 — A severe drought in California, combined with power shortages, led the U.S. Bonneville Power Administration to declare a power emergency. They stopped following agreements to release water for salmon migration and used that water to generate electricity for California.

Traditional protections

Salmon habitats are usually not protected until they are very damaged and the salmon population is close to disappearing. At this point, steps may be taken to help the population recover. Fish hatcheries are often used to increase numbers quickly, but they may not solve the real problems causing the decline. Other ways to help include reducing or stopping the fishing of salmon, keeping water clean, using less water for human needs, and protecting the areas where salmon live. In the past 20 years, Washington State Fisheries, along with local tribes, has reduced the number of salmon caught in Puget Sound by as much as 90%.

Protecting salmon habitats uses a method called the core/satellite model. In this model, some areas are marked as highly used "core" areas, and others are labeled as less important "satellite" areas. This method assumes not all possible habitats will be used by salmon. A problem with this approach is that the areas between core and satellite regions are considered to have low potential value, so they may not get enough protection. If these areas become blocked by dams or destroyed riverbank habitats, the satellite regions lose their usefulness as salmon homes. If many of these areas go unprotected, the total habitat available to salmon can shrink quickly. Some people think this strategy may not work and could lead to salmon extinction.

Protective sanctuary strategy

A new way to protect salmon habitats has been suggested by Rahr and Augerot of the Wild Salmon Center. Their approach focuses on protecting entire river basins as complete systems, rather than using the core/satellite method. They call this method the "Proactive Sanctuary Strategy." This strategy aims to preserve stream habitats in the western United States and Canada that are especially valuable for salmon. These areas are called "salmon strongholds." It is estimated that four to six stream basins would meet these criteria. These high-value basins are very important and must be protected now while they remain mostly untouched. These basins are expected to support salmon populations for the next 100 years. This method does not replace existing protections from local, state, and federal governments. Instead, it is a forward-thinking approach to reduce the need for other methods.

The idea of a "headwaters to the sea" strategy was first introduced in 1892. At that time, the idea did not gain attention because hatcheries were successful in raising salmon. The idea was brought up again in the 1990s when conservationists noticed problems with the lack of coordination among government efforts. Agencies like NOAA often do not have the power to address threats to salmon. The new approach suggests protecting the most intact or valuable river systems first, starting from the headwaters and moving downstream to create a continuous path of protected habitat. Several smaller protected areas within a basin could work together to protect the whole basin. This does not mean all land must be owned by governments or conservation groups. Instead, public and private landowners would collaborate on a smaller scale to preserve habitats. This plan uses three main ideas: (1) creating diverse and healthy salmon populations in protected areas that could help other rivers if needed; (2) keeping habitat connections from headwaters to estuaries to support population diversity; and (3) identifying key areas with the most important salmon populations and habitats as "strongholds."

These ideas can help create the protected areas described earlier. In places where human activity has greatly damaged habitats, such as northern California, only smaller protections may be possible. In less populated areas, like northern British Columbia and Alaska, full basin protections might be achievable. There may be only four to six large-scale protected basins. These areas could allow for some human activity, but certain parts, like ideal spawning grounds, would remain protected. Strongholds would be chosen based on their importance and the practicality of connecting less damaged headwaters with more disturbed estuaries.

This new method does not suggest ending current conservation efforts. Instead, it provides a foundation for future salmon habitats that may not need restoration or strict rules. These goals are large and will likely need more funding than ever used in salmon conservation. However, this approach could lead to better long-term results. Until this plan becomes a reality, smaller projects, like the one in Puget Sound, can help connect older and newer conservation methods.

Puget Sound salmon recovery plan

In 2007, the National Marine Fisheries Service created a new plan to help salmon recover in Puget Sound. Today, it is believed that only 10% of the salmon populations that once lived in the area remain. Some groups of salmon have dropped to just 1% of their original numbers. The new plan includes efforts to protect salmon at the level of individual watersheds, as well as broader rules at the state level. This approach is similar to ideas shared by Rahr et al., but the Puget Sound plan ensures that every watershed, regardless of its importance, has a plan for action. Watersheds with higher value can use more of the methods suggested by Rahr et al., while less important watersheds may use traditional ways to teach people about the environment of their streams.

The Protective Sanctuary Strategy might be needed to protect wild salmon, but its cost and size could slow down its use. For now, the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan is a smaller version of this strategy. Using current sanctuary methods along with laws and community help is meant to improve salmon habitats in the region.

Nigiri Project

Recently, projects in Northern California have helped young salmon grow larger quickly. It is not known what the long-term results will be. In winter, rice fields near Davis, California, are flooded with water to let salmon eat leftover plants from the fields. Salmon have grown a lot in water that is only knee-deep. These fish seem to grow faster in shallow rice fields than in deep rivers.

Simulating rain upstream with pulsing

Pulsing is a method used to help salmon move upstream. Cold water from dams is released at specific times to create a flow that mimics rain falling from mountains, which guides the salmon toward their spawning areas. This technique has worked well recently on the Mokelumne River, which had its fifth largest salmon run in the past 74 years.

Hatcheries

There are disagreements about whether hatcheries work well. Supporters believe hatcheries help salmon survive in the Puget Sound area and other places. Others disagree, saying hatcheries harm the environment by adding salmon raised in hatcheries to natural populations, which can create competition. Hatcheries can cause problems because the salmon system has many connected parts. Early hatcheries were simple egg incubators that released young salmon into streams. This method aimed to protect eggs from dangers in the stream bottom and reduce the number of young salmon that died, hoping to increase salmon numbers. People raise salmon until they are about the size of a finger before releasing them into water. Salmon are kept in crowded spaces, and they are fed a mix of fish parts, horse meat, tripe, and meat from animals that were not healthy enough to sell. This feeding causes disease, which spreads quickly among the salmon.

Habitat

Pacific salmon live in many different freshwater and ocean areas. During their migrations, they travel through several countries, which makes it hard to create and carry out good conservation plans. These fish are found naturally in watersheds across Taiwan, China, Korea, Japan, Russia, Alaska, Yukon, British Columbia, Washington, Idaho, Oregon, and California, as well as throughout much of the North Pacific Ocean. Before conservation efforts can begin, their habitats must be identified and regularly checked. Salmon are a strong species, but human activities are causing serious harm to their populations. Dams, increasing human populations, and other human-related factors are greatly affecting how many salmon there are and where they live along the Pacific Rim.

Dam removal

The life cycle of salmon plays an important role in conservation. After hatching, salmon return to the same gravel bed where they were born to lay their eggs and then die. Their bodies provide nutrients to the environment that would not otherwise be available. A recent study found that 137 species benefit from the nutrients brought by salmon from the ocean. The construction of many dams along the Snake and Columbia Rivers has blocked salmon from reaching some of the best habitats for spawning. This has made it harder for salmon to reproduce successfully. Although some dams have fish ladders to help salmon swim upstream, many still die during their return to their birthplace. Removing the dams and using other energy sources, like wind and wave power, could allow wild salmon to return to untouched habitats. This would help their eggs hatch and grow into healthy salmon, while also adding nutrients to the environment. In 2000, the Oregon Chapter of the American Fisheries Society, which represents many fishery experts, passed a resolution stating that the four lower Snake River dams are a major threat to salmon and steelhead populations. The resolution said that to restore these fish to sustainable levels, the dams must be removed, and this should happen soon. It is important for salmon conservation that wild salmon can spawn in safe, high-quality habitats so their populations can increase again.

Conservation versus Restoration

Conservation means protecting and using salmon carefully, while restoration means returning salmon populations to a previous state. Restoration is more complex than conservation and has many meanings in river restoration efforts.

Salmon Conservation Groups

Many organizations, including coalitions, councils, non-profits, and government-funded groups, work to protect wild salmon. As Mindy Cameron wrote in a 2002 Seattle Times article, "billions of dollars have been spent to reverse declining salmon runs, with no guarantee of success. What's needed here is a new kind of public conversation about salmon and their place in our future."