Spring Chinook Salmon, Lower Snake SMU – Oregon Conservation Strategy

Chinook Salmon - Spring/Summer Run — Photo Credit: ODFW

Overview

Species Common Name Chinook Salmon
Species Scientific Name Oncorhynchus tshawytscha
Federal Listing Status Threatened
State Listing Status Threatened
SMU/ESU/DPS/Subspecies Spring Chinook - Lower Snake SMU, Snake River ESU

Ecoregions

Blue Mountains

Located in NE Oregon, the Blue Mountains ecoregion is the largest ecoregion in the state. It provides a diverse complex of mountain ranges, valleys, and plateaus that extend beyond Oregon into the states of Idaho and Washington.

Nearshore

The Nearshore ecoregion includes a variety of habitats ranging from submerged high-relief rocky reefs to broad expanses of intertidal mudflats in estuaries and hosts a vast array of fish, invertebrates, marine mammals, birds, plants, and micro-organisms. This ecoregion encompasses the area from the outer boundary of Oregon’s Territorial Sea to the supra-tidal zone, and up into the estuaries.

Special needs

Require streams with clean gravel, complex habitat, and cool temperatures for spawning and rearing. Require access for anadromous migration. Spring/Summer Run require cool, deep resting holes for holding over summer. Productive nearshore marine habitat that provides high-quality prey in sufficient quantity for rapid growth at time of ocean entry.

Limiting factors

Water quality. Alterations of hydrology and watershed function. Fish passage. Riparian condition. Marine survival.

Data gaps

Continue ongoing monitoring of populations and conservation effectiveness. Especially in Blue Mountains: abundance, distribution, and productivity. Mechanisms affecting marine survival and spatial, temporal utilization of nearshore marine waters.

Conservation actions

Maintain or restore aquatic and riparian habitat. Continue ongoing restoration efforts involving landowners, tribes, and agency partners (NOAA, NMFS, ODFW, OWEB). Manage for sustainable harvest.

Key reference or plan

Interior Columbia Technical Recovery Team Pacific Coast Salmon Fishery Management Plan