Environment Officials fall short of salmon return goals in Columbia River Basin but see signs of progress

Officials are still not close to reaching their goal of returning at least 5 million salmon and steelhead to the Columbia River Basin. However, new data shows a positive trend in total abundance of fish in the basin.

That’s according to the Northwest Power and Conservation Council, which on Tuesday met over Zoom to discuss the latest data of salmon and steelhead populations in the Columbia River Basin.

Before 1850, salmon and steelhead runs to the Columbia River Basin were estimated to have been between 10 to 16 million annually. Dams significantly fractured those runs, and in the 1990s, runs declined to about 1 million a year.

However, the most recent 10-year rolling average from 2014-2023 stands at 2.3 million salmon and steelhead returning to the basin, similar to the average of 2.4 million fish between 2004-2013, and an improvement from the average in the 1990s which fell to 1.3 million fish, according to data from the council.

https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2024/12/13/officials-fall-short-of-salmon-return-goals-in-columbia-river-basin-but-see-signs-of-progress/