Petition to List Oregon Coast Chinook Salmon and Southern Oregon and Northern California Coastal Chinook Salmon as Threatened or Endangered

On August 4, 2022, we received a petition to list the Oregon Coast (OC) and Southern Oregon and Northern California Coastal (SONCC) Chinook salmon Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) or, alternatively, list only spring-run Chinook salmon in both the OC and SONCC ESUs as threatened or endangered under the ESA. On January 11, 2023, we published a positive 90-day finding (88 FR 1548) announcing that the petition presented substantial scientific and commercial information indicating the petitioned actions to list the OC and SONCC ESUs may be warranted. With respect to the request to list only the spring-run components of those ESUs, we found that the petition did not present substantial scientific and commercial information indicating that the petitioned action was warranted. We also announced the initiation of a status review of the OC and SONCC Chinook salmon ESUs, as required by section 4(b)(3)(A) of the ESA.

On January 6, 2023, the NOAA Fisheries West Coast Region (WCR) requested that the Northwest Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) initiate and lead a status review team to complete a status review of the species to evaluate the extinction risk of the species. We now announce the availability of the NWFSC’s Biological Status of Oregon Coast and Southern Oregon/Northern California Coastal Chinook Salmon: Report of the Status Review Team.