Following a lawsuit filed by a coalition of conservation groups, a U.S. district court has set deadlines for NOAA Fisheries to determine whether some Chinook salmon runs in the Pacific Northwest should be protected by the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
NOAA Fisheries must now make a decision on Oregon Coast and Southern Oregon/Northern California coastal Chinook by 3 November 2025 and on Washington coast spring-run Chinook by 2 January 2026.
“This is an important victory for these icons of the Pacific Northwest and brings them one step closer to lifesaving ESA protections,” Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) Legal Fellow Jeremiah Scanlan said in a release. “The government has taken far too long deciding whether to protect these imperiled Chinook salmon, but these deadlines will hold officials accountable.”
The court-approved agreement comes three years after the first petition was filed and a year after NOAA Fisheries blew by its initial deadline for issuing a determination.
CBD, the Native Fish Society, and Umpqua Watersheds first petitioned NOAA Fisheries to secure ESA protections for spring-run Oregon Coast Chinook salmon in 2022, arguing that the spring run was biologically distinct from fall-run Chinook and dangerously close to extinction. In 2023, the Pacific Rivers joined the petition and added Washington spring-run Chinook to the request.
“Over the past 20 years, I've personally watched this population decline, and we only had 28 spawners return in 2018,” Umpqua Watersheds President and Director Stanley Petrowski said in a statement. “The threats to this magnificent keystone species have lurked in the shadows for decades.”
NOAA Fisheries did respond to the petition in 2023, acknowledging that the runs may qualify for protections under the ESA. However, the agency never followed through with publishing a 12-month determination.
In February, the four conservation groups sued the agency to force it to make a determination on the petitions.
In a 26 June order, the U.S. District Court of Oregon approved an agreement between the U.S. government and those groups that will see NOAA Fisheries file determinations on the runs by November 2025 and January 2026, respectively.
“This agreement requires a decision that is already overdue,” Pacific Rivers Chair Michael Morrison said in a statement. “Science and law are crystal clear. These unique and endangered salmon urgently need and deserve protection.”
The groups behind the petition also claim that spring-run Chinook salmon are an essential prey for Southern Resident orcas, which are already designated as endangered under the ESA.
