give now
Coho salmon moving upstream to spawn

Coho salmon moving upstream to spawn

Programs

Ddedicated to improving understanding of salmon status and trends across the North Pacific.

State of the Salmon Consortium

State of the Salmon is a joint program of the Wild Salmon Center and Ecotrust, a Portland, Oregon-based organization dedicated to conservation and sustainable development in western North America. State of the Salmon is building awareness of salmon status and trends across the North Pacific and providing the scientific and technical support for developing new salmon conservation policies and management practices.

Salmon managers throughout the North Pacific often use different approaches to salmon monitoring and conservation. This can lead to a patchwork of information and misguided management decisions that hamper wild salmon conservation efforts. State of the Salmon works to create a seamless portrait of salmon status and trends, from headwaters to the high seas throughout the North Pacific and in close partnership with local researchers and conservationists.

The comprehensive knowledge baseline State of the Salmon is building will help us measure our progress toward saving salmon. The scientific foundation the program provides is helping to build the next generation of salmon management policies and tools.

Accomplishments

  • Led the effort to add Sakhalin taimen to the IUCN World Conservation Union Red List of Threatened Species. Sakhalin taimen are the one of the largest and oldest salmonids in the world, capable of living up to 40 years and reaching over 100 pounds. Their presence reflects the health of the rivers in which they live, and Sakhalin taimen are critically endangered throughout their native range in Japan and Russia. The Redlist designation elevates the level of urgency for taking action to prevent further declines and sets a course for conservation.
  • Completed a data inventory for all salmon river basins in North America. The inventory offers historic perspectives of management and conservation issues, which will be used to develop stock-status assessments for individual species in 2007.
  • Hosted a conference, Building the new agenda for North Pacific salmon conservation, in April, 2005. The three-day conference drew nearly 200 international salmon specialists to Anchorage, Alaska. Participants focused on salmon biology, habitat, management, policy and communication issues. The event helped salmon experts throughout the Pacific Rim share best management practices for salmon, and provided a forum for professionals to exchange information and lessons learned.
  • Published the Atlas of Pacific Salmon, the first map-based status assessment of salmon in the North Pacific. The Atlas addresses the biological, cultural and economic importance of salmon, as well as the risk of extinction faced by salmon populations along both sides of the Pacific.

Visit State of the Salmon website.