salmon Questions & answers

What are the different species of salmon?

Chinook, often called king salmon, are the largest of the five Pacific salmon species which also include coho (silver), chum (dog), pink (humpy), and sockeye (red). Salmon are anadromous, meaning they migrate from freshwater streams, lakes, and rivers to salt water and then back again to spawn. Steelhead trout are also anadromous but, unlike Pacific salmon, can return to spawn more than once before they die.

Why are some salmon species threatened with extinction, while others seem to be doing OK?

In addition to looking different, each salmon species has a different life history. Chinook, for example, spawn and can spend more than a year as juveniles in the broad reaches of major rivers—the very places where human development tends to be most concentrated. This aspect of the chinook life history is a major reason they are listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act. Coho, on the other hand, spawn mostly in the tributaries of rivers, where high-quality habitat is still relatively abundant. And while chum spawn in the lower reaches of rivers, they move quickly to the ocean after emerging from redds and so are less vulnerable to the effects of habitat loss in fresh water. Decisions about when, where, and how to fish also affect the abundance of salmon species, and populations, differently.

What real impact can salmon managers have when return numbers seem to be driven by forces that are out of their control, like ocean and climate conditions?

Cyclical climatic and ocean conditions have a profound influence on salmon abundance. High ocean productivity is the most likely cause of better salmon runs in recent years. Hatchery salmon, however, account for most of the higher returns. Wild salmon are still in trouble. Periods of high ocean productivity offers an opportunity to jump-start wild salmon recovery, but only if we take action to improve habitat in rivers, streams, estuaries, and shorelines where salmon are born, mature, and spawn the next generation of fish. Protecting and restoring freshwater habitat and implementing meaningful hatchery and harvest reforms will improve the survival of wild salmon during the next cycle of low ocean productivity.

I see plenty of salmon in the grocery store. Are salmon really threatened with extinction?

Much of the salmon found in grocery stores in Puget Sound and coastal Washington are farmed salmon or are commercially caught in Alaska or Canada. Commercial fishing in Puget Sound has been virtually halted in response to the listings of several species as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act in 1999. Sportfishing is tightly regulated, and most salmon caught by sportfishermen are hatchery fish.

I've heard hatcheries are a cause of wild salmon declines. Why should we spend more money on hatcheries?

Hatcheries have been identified as a contributor to wild salmon declines. Recent science, however, indicates hatcheries can play a positive role in wild salmon recovery. In some cases a hatchery is the only thing keeping an imperiled wild population from extinction. Recent scientific breakthroughs make it clear that hatcheries can be designed, sited, and managed better to help recover wild salmon and provide sustainable fisheries.

Habitat restoration is also vital. Hatchery fish spend the majority of their lives in the wild and—like their wild cousins—need healthy streams, rivers, estuaries, and oceans. Hatchery reform and habitat restoration must go hand in hand in a region with more than 100 hatcheries and more than 150 years of habitat degradation.

Why are there so many save-the-salmon groups?

Successful recovery of Northwest salmon populations will demand multiple strategies and approaches. Some organizations devote themselves to habitat protection and restoration, others to promoting better fishing practices, improving dam operations, or removing dams altogether. Others advocate new policies, laws, and regulations to address salmon declines, while still others broker collaborative agreements among salmon recovery advocates, agencies, landowners, and stakeholders.

LLTK is not a membership organization; we do not litigate, advocate, or provide comprehensive community education. We began with a focus on identifying the circumstances under which hatcheries and fish-rearing techniques could be used to help recover naturally spawning salmon and steelhead populations and to support sustainable fisheries.

We broadened our scope to help investigate the ways in which Washington's system of hatcheries (the largest in the world) could be reformed to be a part of the solution to declining salmon and steelhead. This work led LLTK to partner with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to create a new management framework for salmonids, integrating decisions about hatcheries, harvest, and habitat at multiple scales.

LLTK works hard to help develop innovative new tools and strategies to ensure that those who make decisions about salmon in our region are successful. But we also understand that ultimate success-- recovery and sustainability of the species-- relies on the existence of a strong constituency for change. We partner with membership organizations, community groups, business- and land-owners, and other NGO's to expand awareness of our work and of the need for real solutions to the problems facing salmon and steelhead in our region.

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