Pacific Salmon

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Salish Sea References

• Watershed Characterization Mapper
• The Encyclopedia of Puget Sound
• PRISM Project Search
• Washington Coastal Atlas
• WDFW's Salmonscape Map

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There are five species of salmon, three trout and one native char in the Salish Sea. Some of these species are further divided based on lifecycle. For example, rainbow trout and steelhead trout are the same species, but steelhead go to the ocean, and rainbow trout don't. These fish are cold water species, and the largest populations are anadromous--they grow to maturity at sea, and return to freshwater to spawn, resulting in a massive influx of oceanic nutrients and practically free protein. Through their diversity of lifecycles, each salmonid occupys a particular timing and habitat within the rivers, and each river has a salmonid community that reflects its size and character. The could be compared to the buffalo of the great plains for their historical and cultural significance.

This is a topic page that organizes information in the wiki that is flagged with the salmon category. We are developing a related page that is focused on the human system built around salmon recovery.

Chinook (King)

These are the largest fish, and the most prized fishery. They spawn in large river and stream Floodplain Channels, and rear on complex channel margins, but generally move to River Deltas where they may spend several months. Different life histories spend more or less time in floodplains and estuaries. Puget Sound Chinook are listed under the Endangered Species Act and are the focus of Salmon Recovery in the large river systems where they are located. Production is tracked at WDFW in the SCORE database, with most fish returning to the Skagit River Watershed, Snohomish River Watershed and Duwamish-Green River Watersheds. The NWFSC completed some analysis of the differences among the 22 populations of Chinook in Puget Sound.

Chum Salmon (Dog Salmon) and Hood Canal Summer Chum

Chum salmon tend to spawn in the lower reaches of coastal watersheds and big river tributaries, and move quickly to river deltas, embayments and beaches. Chum are a very tolerant species, in that they leave the watershed early, and so less subject to low summer flow and temperature impacts than coho or steelhead, and appear to be more tolerant of pollution than coho, and not subject to pre-spawn mortality.

Coho Salmon (Silver Salmon)

Coho are widely distributed in coastal stream and large river tributary watersheds. They rear for a year in rivers, favoring off channel habitats, including that formed by beaver before going to the sea as yearlings. Coho Pre-Spawn Mortality has created greater awareness of coho vulnerability to pollution, particularly road runoff.

Sockeye

Sockeye often spawn in rivers near lakes, and young may rear for more than a year in lakes before an ocean migration lasting 2 or 3 years. Land locked populations are called kokanee. Lake Ozette sockeye are listed under the Endangered Species Act

Trout and Char

Anadromous Steelhead Trout and Bulltrout, and their resident counterparts, rainbow trout and char both favor hold headwater streams for spawning. Bulltrout move to the Sound for Summer foraging, while steelhead go farther to sea.

Cutthroat trout is also very widely distributed, and has a "sea-run" subspecies, which also forages in the nearshore during summer, returning to small coastal streams to spawn.

Salmon Topics

27 Topics in Salmon

Beach Food Webs and Biodiversity  •  Chum Salmon  •  Coho Mortality from Road Stormwater  •  Coho Salmon  •  Cushman Hydroelectric Project  •  Ecosystem Diagnosis and Treatment Model  •  Effects of River Delta Restoration on Salmon Populations  •  Effects of Stormwater Pollution on Fish  •  Engineered Log Jams  •  Fish Sampling Design in River Deltas  •  Fishery Harvest  •  Hood Canal Bridge  •  Hood Canal Summer Chum Salmon  •  Instream flow  •  Integrated Floodplain Management  •  Integrated Riverscape Management  •  Loraine Loomis Act  •  Nearshore Salmon Recovery Planning  •  Non-natal Nearshore Rearing of Salmon  •  River Delta Use By Salmon  •  Salmon and Steelhead Co-management  •  Stream Crossings and Fish Passage Barriers  •  Stream Temperature and Salmon  •  The Boldt Decision  •  Tide Gate Effects on Salmonid Passage and Utilization  •  Viable Salmon Population Parameters  •  Wood in Streams

All Workgroups and Efforts in Salmon

  Workgroups

• Northwest Chinook Recovery
• Pacific Salmon Foundation
• Salmon Recovery Lead Entities
• Snohomish Sustainable Lands Strategy
• Wild Salmon Center

  Efforts

• Automating Landscape Connectivity for Puget Sound River Deltas and Pocket Estuaries
• Chinook Response to Estuary Restoration
• Country Club Road Stream Crossing at Green Cove Creek
• Dungeness Off Channel Reservoir
• Effects of Exposed Tidal Flats on Water Temperature in the Snohomish Estuary
• Evaluating Salmon Rearing Limitations in River Deltas
• Family Forest Fish Passage Program (FFPPP)
• Fire and Flow Forum
• Fish In/Fish Out Monitoring
• Fish Passage
• Flood Hazard and Ecosystem Management Coordination
• French Slough Drainage Management
• Juvenile salmon response to landscape connectivity change within two Puget Sound river estuaries
• Kilisut Restoration
• Lower Skykomish Floodplain Land Strategy
• Maximizing Benefits of Shoreline Armor Removal
• Meadowdale: Informing Puget Sound coastal stream restoration
• Predicting Sea Level Rise Impacts on Ag Production
• Puget Sound Large River Delta Tidal Restriction and Wetland Mapping
• Puget Sound Marine Riparian Mapping
• Puget Sound Nearshore Habitat Conservation Calculator
• Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan
• Puget Sound Tidal Restriction and Wetland Mapping
• Riparian Data Engine
• Salish Sea Marine Survival Project
• Science Sprints to Support Regulation
• Skagit Farm, Fish and Flood Initiative
• Snohomish Delta Ecosystem Monitoring and Evaluation
• Snohomish Estuary Restoration Effects on Temperature, Salinity, and Tides
• Snohomish Floodplain Acquisition Strategy
• Snoqualmie Fish, Farm and Flood Initiative
• Stillaguamish Valley Protection Initiative
• Tidal Fish Passage & Connectivity
• Tide Gate Effects Analysis
• Visualizing Ecosystem Land Management Assessments (VELMA) Model
• Whatcom Drainage Maintenance Guidance

Salmon Products

The following Product pages are categorized with Salmon.

  Documents

Abbe et al 2018 design and placement of engineered log jams  •  Apgar et al. 2020 range-wide subyearling chinook alternative strategies  •  Barnard et al 2013 water crossing design guidance  •  Barnas et al 2015 pacific salmon restoration project targeting  •  Beamer 2014 nisqually connectivity effects on salmon density  •  Beamer 2016 fisher slough restoration effectiveness  •  Beamer et al 2003 importance of non-natal pocket estuaries  •  Beamer et al 2005 nearshore and delta restoration for skagit chinook  •  Beamer et al 2006 deepwater slough effectiveness  •  Beamer et al 2006 whidbey pocket estuary fish  •  Beamer et al 2007 fish assemblage greater skagit delta  •  Beamer et al 2013 chinook salmon non-natal stream rearing  •  Beamer et al 2013 fisher slough fish monitoring 2011  •  Beamer et al 2013 fisher slough fish monitoring 2012  •  Beechie et al 2017 salmon habitat status monitoring  •  Bennett et al. 2014 early coho outmigrants contribute to adult spawning  •  Blackmore 2009 obstacles to salmon recovery projects  •  Bloch et al. 2019 coastal stream and embayment restoration prioritization  •  Brennan et al 2003 nearshore salmon central puget sound  •  Brouwer et al 2015 floodplain early opportunities  •  CBD 2017 intent to sue oregon beaver control  •  Carah et al 2014 low cost wood in streams  •  Cereghino & Ehinger 2021 science sprint application  •  Chow et al 2019 urban stormwater mortality coho salmon  •  City of Everett 2001 snohomish estuary wetland salmon overlay  •  Cornu et al 2008 large wood placement in tidal wetlands  •  Correa 2002 WRIA 17 quilcene snow-salmon limiting factors salmon  •  David et al 2014 chinook salmon foraging nisqually after restoration  •  ESA 2022 invasive species & salmon recovery snohomish  •  ESA et al. 2022 coastal stream and embayment fish access framework  •  Ehinger et al 2015 nearshore habitat value HEA.pdf  •  Evans & Moore 2011 snohomish sustainable lands strategy framework  •  FEMA 2013 model floodplain ordinance NFIP and ESA  •  Flint et al 2013 woods creek habitat  •  Ford et al 2011 salmon and steelhead status  •  Fox & Bolton 2007 typical wood quantities in unmanaged streams  •  Fresh 2006 juvenile salmon in nearshore  •  Fresh et al 2006 sinclair inlet salmon use  •  Glasgow and Jorgenson 2022 eDNA identifies non-natal fish use  •  Greene & Beamer 2005 skagit delta recovery plan analysis  •  Greene & Beamer 2011 skagit intensively monitored watershed report  •  Greene et al 2012 effects of tidegates on fish  •  Greene et al 2021 chinook salmon estuary density dependance  •  Griffith & Van Arman 2010 stillaguamish smolt trap report  •  Hall et al 2019 DRAFT pocket estuary inventory protocol  •  Hall et al 2019 DRAFT snohomish monitoring plan  •  Haring 1999 WRIA 18 salmon steelehad limiting factors  •  Haring 2002 snohomish wria 7 limiting factors for salmon  •  Hayes et al. 2019 non-natal marine basin use  •  Hernandez et al 2019 environmental DNA fish presence south sound  •  Hood 2002 channel geometry effect on invertebrates  •  ISIT 1999 prioritizing WRIAs for salmon  •  Koski 2009 coho nomads  •  Kuttel 2003 west kitsap salmon habitat assessment  •  Lacarella et al. 2024 salmon stream temperature under climate change  •  Lambert & Chamberlin 2023 non-natal rearing  •  LeDoux & Kubo 2020 snoqualmie riparian buffer task force final report  •  Leonetti et al 2015 north fork stillaguamish habitat change  •  Lestelle et al 2004 EDT model structure  •  Lyons & Ramsey 2013 tide gate synthesis  •  MC2 2018 lead entity lean study  •  May & Peterson 2003 kitsap salmon refugia report  •  McElhany et al 2000 viable salmon populations and recovery  •  McHenry et al 2007 ELJ monitoring elwha river  •  Mote et al 2003 preparing for climate change salmon water and forests  •  NOAA & WDFW 2018 killer whale chinook stock priorities  •  NOAA 1996 effects of actions on watershed properly functioning condition  •  NOAA 2017 Puget Sound ESA status salmonids.pdf  •  NOAA 2020 nearshore batch jeopardy opinion  •  NOAA NMFS 2011 fish passage design  •  PSRITT 2015 chinook monitoring adaptive management framework  •  Pearsall et al 2021 salmon marine survival synthesis  •  Pess et al 2011 salmon density on Elwha ELJs  •  Quinn et al 2013 coho salmon elwha delta pre restoration  •  RCO 2015 salmon recovery network  •  Redmond et al 2005 nearshore salmon recovery plan  •  Roni et al 2013 DRAFT BPA columbia river restoration monitoring plan  •  Rossenkotter et al 2007 nearshore salmon recovery gap analysis  •  Rot et al 2019 san juan islands salmonid limiting factors  •  SBSRF 2005 snohomish river basin salmon conservation plan  •  SBSRTC 2004 snohomish ecological analysis salmon  •  SCSWM 2012 middle pilchuck river assessment  •  SCSWM 2012 pilchuck river habitat assessment  •  SCSWM et al 2015 snohomish salmon protection plan  •  SDHP 2014 skagit hydrodynamic model report  •  SIRC 2005 stillaguamish watershed salmon recovery plan  •  STAG 2000 chinook recovery recommendations for stillaguamish  •  STAG 2000 recommended chinook recovery in stillaguamish  •  STAG 2015 stillagumish acquisition strategy for salmon  •  STNRD 2011 sediment impact on artificial chinook redds north fork stillaguamish  •  Sahandy & Daily 2014 watershed proviso recommendations  •  Savery & Hook 2003 habitat and chinook in pilchuck river  •  Simenstad & Cordell 2000 habitat assessment for salmon  •  Simenstad et al 1982 role of estuaries in salmon life history  •  Small et al 2004 hatchery impacts on nooksack and samish coho salmon  •  Smith & Wengar 2001 chehalis basin salmonid limiting factors  •  Smith 2018 fire and flow presentation.pdf  •  Smith et al 2005 tide gate salmon recovery analysis skagit  •  Snohomish County 2020 smith and mid-spencer monitoring year 0-1  •  Stanley et al 2012 watershed assessment water model  •  TNC 2011 fisher slough monitoring baseline report  •  Takekawa & Woo 2013 niqually delta monitoring proposal.pdf  •  Tanner et al 2002 south spencer restoration  •  Thurston CD 2004 WRIA 13 salmon recovery plan.pdf  •  Toft & Heerhartz 2015 juvenile salmon movement and shoreline armoring  •  Toft et al 2013 Habitat Enhancements  •  Tuohy et al. 2018 chum non-natal habitat use.pdf  •  USFWS & NOAA 2016 contractors handbook PROJECTS BMPs.pdf  •  Varanasi 2003 buffer critique GEI report.pdf  •  WDFW 2003 culvert fish passage.pdf  •  WDFW 2010 skokomish chinook recovery plan.pdf  •  WDFW 2015 guidance using NMFS design.pdf  •  WDFW 2018 typical stream channel drawings.pdf  •  WDFW 2018 water crossing structure drawing checklist.pdf  •  WFC 2007 schneider creek stream type.pdf  •  Wait et al 2007 west whidbey nearshore fish use.pdf  •  Whitman et al 2012 san juan salmon recovery planning.pdf  •  Wild Salmon Center 2022 infrastructure funding for salmon.pdf

  Websites & Datasets

Riparian Data Engine  •  Salmon Conservation and Recovery Engine (SCoRE)  •  Salmon Population Summary Database

  Graphics

Cereghino 2023 DRAFT hood canal summer chum escapement history

facts or skills acquired by a person through experience or education.