Why Salmon Matter

Keystone Species: One Animal, Many Ecosystems

A keystone species is one whose presence shapes the entire ecosystem around it — like the central stone in an arch that holds all the other stones in place. Remove it, and the whole structure collapses. Salmon are one of the most powerful keystone species in the Pacific Northwest.

At least 137 species in the Pacific Northwest depend directly on salmon for food or nutrients — including bears, eagles, wolves, orca, river otters, and dozens of bird species. When salmon runs decline, the effects ripple outward through every part of the food web.

Salmon Feed the Forest

Here is something remarkable: salmon that grow up in the ocean bring marine nutrients back to freshwater streams and the surrounding forest when they return to spawn and die. Their decomposing bodies release nitrogen, phosphorus, and other nutrients into the stream water and soil.

Trees and plants within 150 meters of salmon streams have been found to contain measurable amounts of ocean-derived nitrogen in their tissues. In some Pacific Northwest forests, salmon nutrients account for up to 25% of the nitrogen in streamside vegetation. Bigger salmon runs mean larger trees, healthier riparian zones, and more shade over streams — which in turn keeps water cool enough for the next generation of salmon.

Economic Value: Billions of Dollars

Pacific salmon support enormous economic activity across the Pacific Northwest:

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  Commercial fishing: Puget Sound salmon fisheries have historically generated hundreds of millions of dollars annually in direct economic activity.
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  Sport fishing: Recreational salmon fishing generates significant tourism and equipment spending throughout Washington state.
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  Tribal fisheries: Under treaty rights affirmed in the 1974 Boldt Decision, tribes are entitled to 50% of the harvestable salmon in their usual and accustomed fishing areas. These fisheries are economically and culturally central to tribal communities.
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  Ecosystem services: Beyond direct fishing, salmon support tourism, wildlife viewing, and a broader outdoor recreation economy across the region.

The costs of decline are also measurable. Federal and state governments have spent billions of dollars on hatcheries, habitat restoration, and court-ordered culvert replacement precisely because salmon runs have dropped so severely that the ecosystem, the economy, and treaty obligations are all at risk.

Cultural Significance: Time Immemorial to Today

For the Native Nations of Puget Sound, salmon are not simply a food source or economic resource — they are central to culture, spirituality, and identity. Salmon have sustained Coast Salish peoples for at least 10,000 years, and their relationship with the fish is embedded in language, ceremony, governance, and law.

First Salmon ceremonies — practiced by many tribes — honor the return of the first salmon of the season and express gratitude for the continued relationship between humans and fish. These ceremonies reflect a worldview in which humans have responsibilities to the natural world, not just rights over it.

When tribal leaders negotiated the 1855 Point Elliott and Medicine Creek treaties, they insisted on retaining the right to fish at their usual and accustomed grounds and stations — knowing that salmon were too central to their way of life to surrender. Those treaty rights, affirmed by federal courts repeatedly since 1974, are a legally binding recognition of this centuries-long relationship.

Threats to Puget Sound Salmon

Chinook salmon in Puget Sound are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and several other species are also in decline. The causes are multiple and compounding:

Reasons for Hope

The decline of Puget Sound salmon is severe — but recovery is possible, and there is evidence it is working in some places:

• Nisqually River: After the removal of dikes and restoration of 1,100+ acres of estuary habitat, juvenile Chinook use of the delta increased substantially. The Nisqually is now considered one of the healthier Puget Sound Chinook populations.
• Culvert replacement: Every removed fish-passage barrier opens miles of previously inaccessible spawning habitat. Washington state has corrected hundreds of culverts under the Boldt Decision court order.
• Streamflow protections: Instream flow rules in some basins have improved low-flow conditions, reducing summer temperature stress on salmon.
• Coho recovery in some systems: Where urban stormwater treatment has improved, coho survival rates in some streams have increased.

Recovery requires sustained, coordinated action across government agencies, tribes, landowners, and communities. The science is clear about what salmon need. The question is whether we will provide it.