Coho salmon are an anadromous fish, which means they can live in both fresh and saltwater. Coho salmon have a relatively complex life history.
Coho Salmon (Protected)
Oncorhynchus kisutch
Protected Status
ESA Endangered
Central California Coast ESU
ESA Threatened
Lower Columbia River ESU
Oregon coast ESU
Southern Oregon & Northern California coasts ESU
Quick Facts
Weight
Average 8 pounds but can weigh as much as 35 pounds
Length
2 feet
Lifespan
2 to 5 years
Threats
Climate change,
Commercial and recreational fishing,
Habitat degradation,
Habitat impediments (dams),
Habitat loss
Region
West Coast
Coho salmon. Credit: NOAA Fisheries
Coho salmon. Credit: NOAA Fisheries
About the Species
Coho salmon. Credit: NOAA Fisheries
Coho salmon. Credit: NOAA Fisheries
Coho salmon are an anadromous fish, which means they can live in both fresh and saltwater. Coho salmon have a relatively complex life history that includes spawning and juvenile rearing in rivers for at least one summer followed by migrating to saltwater to feed, grow, and mature before returning to freshwater to spawn. They are vulnerable to many stressors and threats including blocked access to spawning grounds and habitat degradation caused by dams and culverts. One evolutionary significant unit of coho salmon is listed as endangered and three ESUs are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
NOAA Fisheries is committed to conserving and protecting coho salmon. Our scientists and partners use a variety of innovative techniques to study, learn more about, and protect this species.
Aerial view of the Ridgefield Pits in the foreground on the East Fork Lewis River before restoration. The Daybreak Pits can also be seen and are located adjacent to the Ridgefield Pits. The project will focus on restoring the nine Ridgefield Pits. Credit: Lower Columbia Estuary Partnership
The Big River flows into the Pacific Ocean on the Mendocino Coast. NOAA has funded numerous restoration projects on the Big River to benefit Central California Coast coho salmon. Credit: Adobe Stock
The Central California Coast evolutionarily significant unit (called an "ESU") of coho salmon is one of NOAA Fisheries' Species in the Spotlight. This initiative is an agency-wide effort launched in 2015 to spotlight and save the most highly at-risk marine species.
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Central California Coast coho salmon are one of the 28 salmonids federally listed by NOAA Fisheries on the West Coast of the United States. Like other salmon, they breed and hatch young in rivers. After more than a year (sometimes two) rearing in freshwater, juveniles migrate to the North Pacific, where they live and grow for one-and-a-half years, then return to the rivers of their birth to spawn and die. Once abundant, these fish supported native, recreational, and commercial fisheries.
Central California Coast coho were first listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1996, and then reclassified as endangered in 2005. This unique run of coho salmon, at the southern extent of the species' range, has teetered on the brink of extinction.
Where Central California Coast Coho Live
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This ESU of coho salmon originates from rivers south of Punta Gorda, California to and including Aptos Creek, as well as such coho salmon originating from tributaries to San Francisco Bay.
The Central California Coast coho salmon ESU represents the southern extent of the species' larger range.
Population Status
By the late 1990s, Central California Coast coho salmon were on the verge of extinction. Data demonstrated that the species was declining throughout its range, except in two places: the Russian River in Sonoma County, and Scott Creek, in Santa Cruz County. Conservation hatchery programs have supported the species in these two areas, and we have recently observed some increases in abundance.
Habitat
Coho salmon spend approximately the first half of their life cycle rearing and feeding in streams and small freshwater tributaries. Spawning habitat is comprised of small streams with stable gravel substrates. These fish need cold, clean freshwater streams to lay their eggs, along with side channels and floodplains where young fish can find food and hide from predators. The remainder of their life cycle is spent foraging in estuarine and marine waters of the Pacific Ocean.
While there is no single factor responsible for Central California Coast coho salmon decline, both human activities and natural events have degraded their habitats. Agriculture and legacy logging practices have straightened rivers and streams, deforested the river banks, and extracted water for farming, watering lawns, and other uses.
A critical emerging challenge to Central California Coast coho salmon survival and recovery is the increased frequency of severe weather patterns resulting from climate change. California now routinely experiences above-average temperatures and well below average temperatures. Unprecedented wildfires throughout the species’ range have become a significant habitat concern. Fires of this magnitude cause substantial damage to riparian habitat and instream wood shelter, as well as increased landslides and sediment input to streams. The impact of droughts, fires, and flooding on Central California Coast coho salmon habitat will remain for many generations to come. Restoration and additional monitoring of habitat and species response to these events is necessary to repair and re-evaluate how climate-driven processes influence Central California Coast coho salmon’s survival and recovery.
Recovery: Species in the Spotlight Priority Actions
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This remote side incubator is filled with salmon eggs that are bathed in cool, well-oxygenated water from the stream.
It details the focused efforts that are needed over the next 5 years. In our 2021–2025 action plan, we prioritized the following activities:
Restoration at a watershed scale
Improving instream flow to support freshwater rearing
Continuing and expanding conservation captive broodstock programs to increase species and spatial diversity and support population recovery
Partnering and outreach to advance recovery
Monitoring and Research of a dynamic and changing landscape
These actions are working to save Central California Coast coho salmon from extinction and are paving a path forward to recovery.
In our first five years of the Species in the Spotlight initiative, we made the following progress toward stabilizing the species and halting their decline:
Enhanced more than 200 miles of streams.
Added more than 6,000 pieces of large woody debris to improve instream habitat complexity.
Increased returns: In 2017–2018; Russian River run was at its highest in two decades, and in 2018–2019 spawning season, 85 percent returning adults were at least age 3.
In the Southern Coho Salmon Captive Broodstock program, we have experimented with varying the life stage that is released.
Completed NOAA Fisheries first Safe Harbor Agreement.
Formed new partnerships to expand conservation hatchery rearing programs which support species stability and expand species distribution throughout their historic range.
Improved fish passage and water quality by removing excess fine sediment. This restored access to more than ten miles of stream and reduced the threat of salmonid fish kills associated with anoxic sediment flooding the lagoon after the estuary naturally breaches in the winter months. The project is also is expected to reduce the risk of flooding to the nearby town.
The Ranch is located in the Scott Creek watershed of Santa Cruz County, California. It is a CalPoly educational facility and home to the southern-most extant population of coho salmon.
Over the last decade, Brian, staff, and students have strengthened and diversified recovery efforts for Central California Coast coho salmon.
In 2019, we recognized the Russian River Coho Salmon Hatchery Team for its critical role in Central California Coast coho salmon recovery. The joint U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/California Department of Fish and Wildlife Coho Salmon Hatchery Team has been rearing endangered Central California Coast coho salmon since 2001. In 2018, 17 years after the first Russian River rescue, the team formed a new partnership with The Nature Conservancy, the Conservation Fund, and the Mendocino Redwood Company. Together, they will capture, rear, and re-release Mendocino Coast coho salmon from the Garcia and Navarro Rivers.
In 1939, visionary farmers in San Mateo County, California formed the first conservation district in California and one of the first in the nation: the San Mateo Resource Conservation District. Today, the RCD provides comprehensive, integrated services addressing wildlife, water, climate, and agriculture. In the last decade, they have focused their restoration efforts on conserving salmonids and their habitat, especially endangered Central California Coast (CCC) coho salmon.
Trout Unlimited’s North Coast Coho Project Team. Team members include: Anna Halligan, Elise Ferrarese, Daisy Schadlich, Kate Robbins and Nicole Herrera. Credit: Trout Unlimited.
Trout Unlimited’s North Coast Coho Project (NCCP), started in 1998, is a public-private partnership of a large spatial scale working cooperatively to restore CCC coho salmon habitat. NCCP assesses watershed conditions, develops and implements projects to reduce sediment delivery to streams, installs large wood to provide cover and diversify instream habitat, and removes fish passage barriers. Since 2008, the NCCP has leveraged nearly $25 million for habitat restoration for over 75 individual projects. The NCCP team has been instrumental in moving habitat restoration forward, and their ability to form diverse partnerships has been key in CCC coho salmon recovery efforts.
We listed the Central California coast ESU of coho salmon as endangered and the Lower Columbia River ESU, Oregon coast ESU, Southern Oregon & Northern California coasts ESU as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
NOAA Fisheries seeks public comment on proposed permit actions, Template Safe Harbor Agreement, and Site Plans for multiple landowners in the Shasta Valley, Siskiyou County, California.Recovery of Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast (SONCC) coho…
NOAA announced 5-year reviews of 28 species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The listed species comprise 17 evolutionarily significant units of Pacific salmon (Oncorhynchus spp.) and 11 distinct population segments of steelhead (Oncorhynchus…
NOAA Fisheries is making available for public review and comment an hatchery and genetics management plan, or HGMP (PDF, 78 pages), submitted by the Washington Dept. of Fish and Wildlife for NOAA Fisheries ESA Section 4(d) Rule limit 5 determination for…
NOAA Fisheries issued a final rule to designate critical habitat for lower Columbia River coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) and Puget Sound steelhead (O. mykiss) pursuant to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
The specific areas designated for lower…
A Tribal Resource Management Plan describing fisheries, including monitoring and evaluation of the effects on coho salmon, in the portion of the Trinity River within the Hoopa Valley Reservation.
Juveniles of the five Pacific salmon species. Credit: NOAA Fisheries/Alaska Fisheries Science Center
NOAA Fisheries conducts various research activities on the biology, behavior, and ecology of coho salmon. The results of this research are used to inform management decisions for this species.
Dive Deeper Into Our Research
Coho Salmon in Alaska
Our work to forecast salmon harvests, assess the impact of commercial fisheries on salmon, and evaluate how salmon populations respond to environmental changes enable us to estimate abundance and trends for coho salmon in Alaska.
Our research on Pacific salmon covers several topics including bycatch, salmon harvest forecasts, ecotoxicology, genetics, marine survival, and responses to climate change.
