Biologists expect a record number of pink salmon to return to Puget Sound and Washington rivers and streams this year. And while that may seem like a good signal about salmon habitat, it's also ...

That makes things easier for folks watching salmon communities around Puget Sound, and in 2023, they are observing one of the largest pink salmon runs in the past decade.

But in 1998, salmon harvests were curtailed amid efforts to boost runs decimated by overfishing, pollution and habitat loss. A strong change in ocean conditions occurred around the same time, ...

In addition, the salmon population has remained stable over the past 40 years, suggesting that the changes “have aided in the resilience of the population to environmental change”, says Kovach.

The research team believes that the increase in pink salmon numbers in high-latitude Northern Pacific regions has led to the shrinking chum salmon population in Japan.

BUCKLEY, Wash. -- It's been a long battle in Washington to get salmon numbers back up in our rivers, but a few recent changes in the White River has the Chinook population increasing tenfold ...