Pacific Salmon at the Crossroads: Stocks at Risk from California, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington

TLDR

Native Pacific salmon, steelhead, and sea‑run cutthroat populations along the West Coast have declined because of habitat loss, altered flows from hydropower and agriculture, overfishing, and competition with nonnative hatchery fish, and past mitigation efforts have been inadequate. The paper calls for a new paradigm focused on habitat restoration and ecosystem function instead of hatchery production to help these stocks survive into the next century. The American Fisheries Society lists 214 native stocks, with 101 at high risk of extinction, 58 at moderate risk, 54 of special concern, and one threatened under the ESA and California law. Published in 1989.

Abstract

The American Fisheries Society herein provides a list of depleted Pacific salmon, steelhead, and sea-run cutthroat stocks from California, Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, to accompany the list of rare inland fishes reported by Williams et al. (1989). The list includes 214 native naturally-spawning stocks: 101 at high risk of extinction, 58 at moderate risk of extinction, 54 of special concern, and one classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 and as endangered by the state of California. The decline in native salmon, steelhead, and sea-run cutthroat populations has resulted from habitat loss and damage, and inadequate passage and flows caused by hydropower, agriculture, logging, and other developments; overfishing, primarily of weaker stocks in mixed-stock fisheries; and negative interactions with other fishes, including nonnative hatchery salmon and steelhead. While some attempts at remedying these threats have been made, they have not been enough to prevent the broad decline of stocks along the West Coast. A new paradigm that advances habitat restoration and ecosystem function rather than hatchery production is needed for many of these stocks to survive and prosper into the next century.