Salmon conservation efforts
The Puget Sound Partnership "is committed to working with local stakeholders and communities, tribes, businesses, anglers, agriculture, environmental interest groups, and state and federal agencies to identify, sequence, prioritize, and implement projects and programs to recover salmon in Puget Sound."
The Partnership funds local salmon restoration efforts through the Puget Sound Acquisition and Restoration (PSAR) program, and is using the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan, developed by NOAA Fisheries, to develop and implement regional and local salmon recovery plans. The Partnership has completed projects providing salmon refuge from predators, rest during migration, and opportunities for feeding, as well as recovery actions, such as dredging and stormwater treatment, to reduce the effects of pollution on bays. The Partnership is currently working with various federal, state, tribal, and local partners to implement the Recovery Plan.
Aside from developing the Puget Sound Recovery Plan being used by the Puget Sound Partnership, working with partners "to protect, conserve, and recover salmon and steelhead by addressing the threats these animals face and by restoring the habitat on which they depend," NOAA Fisheries performs salmon and steelhead research in the Pacific Northwest to "inform the conservation and recovery of these at-risk species while maintaining a sustainable harvest."
NOAA Fisheries performs research on the effects of climate change, changes in the environment, chemical contaminants, urban development, hatchery rearing, and more, on salmon populations in the Pacific Northwest. The Center also predicts Chinook and Coho salmon returns up to two years in advance, and evaluate salmon diversity in commercial fisheries, as well as the fitness of wild salmon.
The Upper Columbia United Tribes "take a proactive, collaborative, and science-based approach to promoting fish, water, wildlife, diverse habitat, and Indian culture in the Northwest." UCUT is composed of the Coeur d'Alene Tribe of Indians, Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation, Kalispel Tribe of Indians, Kootenai Tribe of Idaho and Spokane Tribe of Indians.
UCUT has projects under the categories of fish, water, wildlife, culture, and habitat, one of which (under "Fish"), is the restoration of salmon into the Upper Columbia River Basin. The project website itself is an educational resource offering a brief history of salmon harvest and importance, as well as eventual salmon loss and how it affected Indigenous people, The Columbia Basin Tribes and First Nations have investigated upstream of Chief Joseph and Grand Coulee Dams, and in 2015, developed a project and paper detailing how to reintroduce salmon into the upper Columbia River Basin. UCUT and their partners have currently completed Phase 1 of this project, and are moving onto Phase 2.