NOAA Fisheries has announced USD 99 million (EUR 85 million) in annual funding for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, though the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is once again pushing to terminate the fund.
“The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund has a strong track record of supporting states and Tribes in completing projects that support the economy,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler said in a release. “The projects help increase Pacific salmon populations, which sustain federal ocean fisheries and benefit tribes.”
According to NOAA Fisheries, projects that meet the Trump administration’s Executive Order on Gold Standard Science will be prioritized in the application process, and funding will be awarded to projects that can show demonstrable benefits for salmon and steelhead populations on the West Coast.
Established in 2000, the fund has provided USD 1.9 billion (EUR 1.7 billion) in funding for 16,000 salmon recovery projects, restoring and protecting roughly 1.2 million acres of spawning and rearing habitat.
“Habitat is our savings account; it’s our bank account that supports the salmon we rely on,” Pacific Fishery Management Council Vice Chair Butch Smith said in a release. “When we take care of it, we see a huge return on that investment, not just to the Northwest, but to the nation and everyone who values this great salmon resource.”
The announcement comes roughly a year after the Trump administration proposed terminating the fund entirely as part of sweeping cuts to both NOAA Fisheries and NOAA more broadly. Federal lawmakers, however, proved uninterested in the proposal, and they ultimately provided the regular USD 65 million (EUR 56 million) for the fund in fiscal year 2026. The fiscal year 2026 amount of USD 99 million includes Bipartisan Infrastructure Law money set aside for the fund, which the Trump administration also sought to rescind last year.
Despite not gaining any momentum last budget cycle, the Trump administration is once again pushing to terminate the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund. The fiscal year 2027 budget proposal includes no money for the fund. The budget does not attempt to justify the cut, merely noting that “the budget does not provide funding for this program” and stating that the government will support salmon recovery “through other NOAA programs as resources allow.”
