December 5, 2025 — Most Pacific Coast salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act have increased in abundance over the past 25 years, arresting earlier declines. These findings were published in new research by NOAA Fisheries scientists who have studied the species.
The scientists examined trends in 28 population groups, called distinct population segments, within five species of salmon and steelhead listed from 1989 to 2007. These groups represent specific geographic areas and genetic characteristics, and are the smallest units that can be listed under the Act. The scientists found that a majority of the population groups protected as threatened or endangered increased in abundance. None disappeared into extinction. Protected population groups also increased faster than unprotected populations of the same species.
“At the time of the salmon listings, there was a path toward recovery and a path toward extinction,” said Michael Ford, lead author of the new research published in Fish and Fisheries. Ford recently retired as a research scientist at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center. “So far, we have avoided extinction and even succeeded in moving many populations in the right direction, but most are still far from complete recovery.”