NOAA Fisheries concluded this month that Olympic Peninsula wild steelhead is not in danger of extinction, nor will the distinct population segment of the steelhead likely become so in the foreseeable future.

The petition to list the OP steelhead under the federal Endangered Species Act was first submitted to NOAA Aug. 1, 2022 by The Conservation Angler and the Wild Fish Conservancy. NOAA followed up soon after with a positive 90-day finding Feb. 10, 2023, announcing that the petition to list the species may be warranted. That also initiated a status review by NOAA of the steelhead.

The petition by the two conservation groups had claimed that the number of summer fish had declined since the 1990s, that catch of winter fish is resulting in a much smaller return than was historically found in the rivers and that large numbers of non-Olympic Peninsula hatchery steelhead were showing up in Olympic Peninsula rivers, according to the status review team’s report (“Biological Status of the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead Distinct Population Segment,” https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/s3//2024-11/nwfsc-tech-memo-198.pdf).

Two years later in January 2025, the two petitioners filed again in Western Washington District Court, saying that the final ESA listing was to have occurred nearly one year earlier, but as of Jan. 17, 2025 the action required under the ESA was 536 days late.

–See CBB, February 7, 2025, Conservation Groups File Lawsuit Calling For NOAA Fisheries To Speed Up ESA Listing Of Olympic Peninsula Summer, Winter Steelhead, Conservation Groups File Lawsuit Calling For NOAA Fisheries To Speed Up ESA Listing Of Olympic Peninsula Summer, Winter Steelhead – Columbia Basin Bulletin

This month the fisheries agency completed and published its 12-month finding announcing that OP steelhead do not warrant either a threatened or endangered listing under the federal Endangered Species Act after an “independent review of the best available scientific and commercial information and the findings of the status review report,” the agency said on its website.

According to the petitioners, the 12-month finding determined that OP steelhead “qualify as a distinct population segment and acknowledged long-term population declines, reduced productivity, and substantial uncertainty, but concluded that listing is not warranted at this time.”

“Wild Fish Conservancy and The Conservation Angler are conducting a thorough review of the decision and the underlying status review to evaluate whether NOAA’s finding is consistent with the best available science and the requirements of the Endangered Species Act,” they said in a statement. “We are assessing all available options to ensure that Olympic Peninsula steelhead receive the protections necessary to prevent further decline and secure a path toward recovery. Additional information will be forthcoming.”

NOAA said in its Federal Register Notice that it would continue to monitor the OP steelhead DPS status, including working closely with Tribal and State co-managers.

This is the second recent similar decision by NOAA Fisheries. In December, the federal agency determined that Oregon Coast and Northern California Coastal Chinook salmon did not warrant listing under the ESA. In that ruling, NOAA also said that the two DPSs were not in danger of extinction and were unlikely to become so.

–See CBB, December 19, 2025, NOAA Rejects ESA-Listing For Oregon Coast, Northern California Chinook Salmon; ‘High Overall Abundance, Well-Distributed Spawning Populations’ NOAA Rejects ESA-Listing For Oregon Coast, Northern California Chinook Salmon; ‘High Overall Abundance, Well-Distributed Spawning Populations’ – Columbia Basin Bulletin

NOAA defined threatened and/or endangered in its 12-month finding. An endangered species is one that is presently in danger of extinction, while a threatened species is not currently in danger of extinction but is likely to become so in the foreseeable future. The difference between the two is “the timing of when a species is in danger of extinction, either presently (endangered) or not presently but within the foreseeable future (threatened),” NOAA said.

According to NOAA, OP steelhead are made up of populations in “river basins of the Olympic Peninsula, Washington, west of the Elwha River and south to, but not including, the rivers that flow into Grays Harbor on the Washington coast.”

The OP steelhead ESU is primarily made up of winter-run steelhead but also includes several summer-run steelhead populations, NOAA said in its 12-month finding. Genetic data collected by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife supports the theory that, as a group, steelhead populations from the Olympic Peninsula are substantially isolated from those in other regions of western Washington.

A 1996 status review of the fish also had concluded that OP steelhead was not in danger of extinction or likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future. Although most abundance trends for winter-run OP steelhead were positive at the time, including for three of the four largest populations, several other populations had downward trends, and for three populations this decline was statistically significant, NOAA said in its 12-month finding published in the Federal Register. In addition, NOAA at the time noted that hatchery fish were widespread, and interbreeding between natural and hatchery fish could reduce the genetic diversity of natural-origin OP steelhead
There are 11 summer-run populations and 30 winter-run steelhead populations on the western side of the Olympic Peninsula. The 12-month finding says that winter-run steelhead are found throughout the OP in smaller streams that drain directly into the Strait of Juan de Fuca and in larger rivers and their tributaries that drain into the Pacific Ocean (including Queets, Hoh, Quinault, and Quillayute). Winter-run steelhead predominate.

Summer-run steelhead are in portions of the largest four river systems draining into the Pacific Ocean: Quinault (East Fork, North Fork, and main stem), Queets (mainstem, Clearwater), Hoh (South Fork Hoh), and Quillayute (Bogachiel, Sol Duc, Sitkum, and Calawah).
NOAA estimates that the total abundance for winter-run in the four major basins has decreased by 42 percent, from 32,556 (1991-1995) to 18,821 (2018-2022).

“Using combined escapement estimates as additional information on abundance, escapement in the four major basins has decreased by 16 percent from 18,597 (1991-1995) to a current level of 15,653 (2018-2022),” the 12-month finding says. “Of the 14 populations for which adequate escapement data were available for trend analysis (of 30 total winter-run populations), 1 had a stable trend and 13 were negative (10 significantly negatively different from 0).

“Analysis of the four major basins by WDFW indicated that total run size had nearly halved in size from the late 1970s and 1980s to 2022, while the trend in escapements was slightly declining or stable. Notably, adequate information was not available for 16 of 30 winter-run populations,” the 12-month finding says.

There was less data available for summer-run steelhead in the OP steelhead DPS and information on the amount of interbreeding between hatchery-origin and natural-origin steelhead is limited, according to the finding.

“Based on the foregoing information, we determine OP steelhead do not warrant listing at this time,” the 12-month finding concludes.“Primary factors leading to this conclusion include: habitat quality and connectivity are generally good within the DPS and are benefitting from ongoing restoration efforts; spatial distribution is good; State and Tribal co-managers have implemented improved harvest and hatchery practices and reduced harvest significantly in recent years; abundance trends suggest declining populations, but the response to recent management actions has yet to be seen; and while environmental variation is expected to have some negative impacts on the DPS, there could also be positive impacts while the precise localized effects are unclear. Additionally, we did not identify any portions of the DPS that were both significant and facing a higher level of extinction risk than the DPS rangewide. Therefore, we determine listing is not warranted.”

The petition to list is here: PETITION TO LIST OLYMPIC PENINSULA STEELHEAD (Oncorhynchus Mykiss) AS A THREATENED OR ENDANGERED SPECIES

NOAA’s 90-day finding (Feb. 10, 2023) is here: Federal Register :: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; 90-Day Finding on a Petition To List Olympic Peninsula Steelhead as Threatened or Endangered Under the Endangered Species Act

NOAA’s Biological Status Review of OP Steelhead (Nov. 21, 2024) is here: Biological Status of the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead Distinct Population Segment | NOAA Fisheries

NOAA’s 12-month finding (Jan. 14, 2026) is here: Federal Register :: Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; 12-Month Finding on a Petition To List the Olympic Peninsula Steelhead Distinct Population Segment Under the Endangered Species Act
The Wild Fish Conservancy is a nonprofit conservation organization headquartered in Washington State and working from California to Alaska to preserve, protect and restore the northwest’s wild fish and the ecosystems they depend on, through science, education, and advocacy. www.wildfishconservancy.org

The Conservation Angler fights for the protection of wild Pacific anadromous fish populations and their watersheds throughout the Pacific Northwest and Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula. www.theconservationangler.org
For background, see:

See CBB, December 9, 2024, New NOAA Status Review Shows Olympic Peninsula Wild Steelhead Numbers In Steep Decline, Now At Moderate Risk Of Extinction, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/new-noaa-status-review-shows-olympic-peninsula-wild-steelhead-numbers-in-steep-decline-now-at-moderate-risk-of-extinction/

— CBB, February 17, 2023, NOAA FISHERIES TO CONDUCT STATUS REVIEW OF OLYMPIC PENINSULA WILD STEELHEAD TO DETERMINE IF ESA LISTING WARRANTED, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/NOAA-FISHERIES-TO-CONDUCT-STATUS-REVIEW-OF-OLYMPIC-PENINSULA-WILD-STEELHEAD-TO-DETERMINE-IF-ESA-LISTING-WARRANTED/

— CBB, April 27, 2022, OLYMPIC PENINSULA GLACIERS, SNOWFIELDS DISAPPEARING FAST; DIMINISHING STREAMS FOR FISH, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/OLYMPIC-PENINSULA-GLACIERS-SNOWFIELDS-DISAPPEARING-FAST-DIMINISHING-STREAMS-FOR-FISH/

— CBB, March 31, 2022, OREGON COAST STEELHEAD RETURNS SHOWING BETTER NUMBERS THAN WASHINGTON; OREGON LOOKING FOR PUBLIC INPUT ON COLUMBIA RIVER STEELHEAD MANAGEMENT, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/OREGON-COAST-STEELHEAD-RETURNS-SHOWING-BETTER-RETURNS-THAN-WASHINGTON-OREGON-LOOKING-FOR-PUBLIC-INPUT-ON-COLUMBIA-RIVER-STEELHEAD-MANAGEMENT/

— CBB, January 27, 2022, BAD TREND FOR OLYMPIC PENINSULA WILD STEELHEAD: POPULATIONS DOWN MORE THAN HALF SINCE 1950S, FISH RETURNING 1-2 MONTHS LATER, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/BAD-TREND-FOR-OLYMPIC-PENINSULA-WILD-STEELHEAD-POPULATIONS-DOWN-MORE-THAN-HALF-SINCE-1950S-FISH-RETURNING-1-2-MONTHS-LATER/

— CBB, Nov. 4, 2021, LIKE COLUMBIA RIVER, WASHINGTON COAST SEES WORST STEELHEAD RETURNS EVER, LIKELY TO GET WORSE; WDFW MULLS ANGLING RESTRICTIONS, https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/like-columbia-river-washington-coast-sees-worst-steelhead-returns-ever-likely-to-get-worse-wdfw-mulls-angling-restrictions/