Background of salmon recovery planning

Over the past several decades, wild populations of salmon and steelhead throughout the West Coast have declined to dangerously low levels. In 1991, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) began a series of comprehensive status reviews of salmon and steelhead throughout Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and California. NMFS identified 52 Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) of West Coast salmon and steelhead. Twenty-seven of those ESUs have been listed as endangered or threatened species under the ESA. In addition, it is estimated that hundreds of historic populations in this region are now extinct.

To reverse this pattern, NMFS has promoted comprehensive, focused recovery efforts throughout the region. This website provides background on technical recovery planning activities and efforts, and research and publications completed by NWFSC staff and Technical Recovery Teams as part of the recovery process.  Additional information on salmon recovery planning can be found at the NMFS Northwest Region's salmon recovery web site. For more background on salmon recovery teams through the NWFSC, see the Recovery Planning Background page.

Recovery Implementation Science Team (RIST)

Meetings and Events

We are pleased to announce the formation of the Recovery Implementation Science Team (RIST), the Puget Sound Steelhead Technical Recovery Team, and the Puget Sound Recovery Implementation Science Team. The new teams will hold their first meetings in March, in Seattle. See the RIST and Puget Sound web pages for more details on these teams and their membership.

last modified 09/05/2008