FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feds Agree, Klamath River Chinook Salmon Need Endangered Species Review

Decision comes in repsonse to petition filed by Oregon Wild and partners

National Marine Fisheries Service will initiate process that could lead to Endangered Species Act protections for chinook salmon.

With new scientific information in their hands, officials with the National Marine Fisheries Service announced today that upper Klamath River chinook salmon found in northern California and southern Oregon may warrant protection under the federal Endangered Species Act. The decision triggers a status review from biologists to determine if protection is warranted.

Today’s announcement comes in response to a January 28 petition from the Center for Biological Diversity, Oregon Wild, Environmental Protection Information Center and Larch Company requesting that Klamath chinook be protected due to a sharp decrease in their population in the last 100 years. Biologists now count just 300 to 3,000 wild-spawning spring chinook each year. The species has been hammered by dam-building, irresponsible logging practices, and water quality issues.

Statement of Ani Kame’enui, Healthy Rivers Campaign Coordinator for Oregon Wild:

"This is an encouraging step for Klamath chinook. With coastal fishing closures, fish kills, and toxic algae blooms being a yearly story on the Klamath River, this is welcome good news for these special fish. Klamath chinook salmon already travel hundreds of miles and survive a gauntlet of natural impediments to successful spawning, the least we can do is help to remove the human-made obstacles to their recovery. As the biologists take a deeper look at all of the scientific information available on chinook, we feel confident they will agree that the fish is in desperate need of endangered species protection and the safety net that provides."

Read the original petition.

See NOAA’s announcement on the status review.

Find out more about Klamath chinook salmon (including maps and charts.

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