Why Save Salmon?

Farm-raised salmon is easy to find in grocery stores and on restaurant menus, creating a sense of plenty for many consumers. And ocean conditions favorable to Washington State have boosted hatchery returns in recent years. But wild salmon runs in the Northwest are in grave trouble. Their numbers have fallen dramatically over the past century.

According to the National Marine Fisheries Service, 31 out of 52 salmon and steelhead populations in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and California are listed as either "threatened," "endangered," or "species of concern." The factors responsible for this decline are complex and far-reaching, including habitat loss due to human activities, overfishing, and outdated hatchery practices. Protecting and restoring Northwest salmon will demand multiple strategies, broad-based community involvement, and a sustained commitment. We all have a part to play.

Salmon are Central to the Culture, Environment, and Economy of the Pacific Northwest

In his 1990 book The Good Rain, author Timothy Egan sums it up this way: "The Pacific Northwest is simply this: wherever the salmon can get to." If that's the case, the region is shrinking fast. Indeed, as salmon runs dwindle, we risk losing the very qualities that make the Northwest a special place to live.

Because their habitat ranges from stream to ocean and from mountain to coast, salmon are a bellwether of regional environmental health. Salmon enhance local communities and economies and are the linchpin of an $854 million annual recreational fishing economy in Washington State (the eighth largest in the nation). Salmon remain at the heart of Tribal culture, in which First Salmon ceremonies celebrate the return of the earliest arriving member of a run.

Salmon bring the bounty of the ocean inland, where river and forest creatures feed on them. Their decomposing bodies import valuable marine nutrients that find their way into forest soils, trees, and other plants. Perhaps most importantly, salmon inspire us with their complex and compelling life cycle. How salmon return to spawn in their birth waters, for example, is an enduring mystery. Click here to read answers to Frequently Asked Questions about salmon