March 10, 2026 — A massive marine heatwave warmed the eastern Pacific Ocean through much of 2025, but the wind-driven upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich water that drives the rich marine productivity of the West Coast kept the ecosystem healthy.
That is the conclusion of the California Current Ecosystem Status Report, an annual assessment of the West Coast marine ecosystem by NOAA’s California Current Integrated Ecosystem Assessment team. The report provides ecological insight for the Pacific Fishery Management Council and others on the ecological, social, and economic factors likely to influence fisheries and other ocean uses in the coming year.
The report assesses conditions and trends over the last year for insight on coming seasons. The leading takeaways from the annual report include:
- Strong upwelling fostered productive waters and held heatwave warmth offshore
- Deep-water nutrients likely fostered toxic algae as it mixed with warm surface water
- Juvenile salmon, young rockfish and anchovy flourished in productive conditions
- Shrimp-like krill, which often reflect the health of the ecosystem, proved abundant coastwide
- Precipitation on land reduced drought conditions but sparse snowpack reduced water storage
- Four coastal fish processors closed as total coastwide landings remain low
This year’s report also highlights new technology, ocean forecasts, and collaborations with vessel operators that provide fishing fleets and managers with timely ecosystem insight that helps support sustainable fisheries. It includes projections that many marine species will move farther offshore and into deeper waters as the ocean warms, which could affect fishing fleets and their communities on the West Coast.
Researchers from the NOAA Fisheries Northwest and Southwest Fisheries Science Centers presented the findings to the Council this week. They said abundant forage such as krill, juvenile rockfish, and anchovy helped boost species including salmon, squid, seabirds, and more.
“Warming continues to be an inescapable reality off the West Coast, but upwelling saved the day,” said Andrew Leising, a research oceanographer at the NOAA Fisheries Southwest Fisheries Science Center and an editor of the annual ecosystem reports. “The cold water influx helped hold off the marine heatwave and sustained many of the fisheries and species the California Current is known for.”