Our mission is to protect the world’s salmon strongholds.
Get to Know Wild Salmon
Learn what makes these incredible fish so important to protect for wildlife and people.
Wild Salmon are a Keystone Species
Salmon are the foundation of ecosystems across the North Pacific, and a critical link between the ocean and waters upstream.
Feed More than 137 Wildlife Species
Salmon are essential to the diets of species as diverse as crustaceans, bears, and orcas.
Bring Nutrients to Forestlands
On their journeys upstream, salmon bring vital nutrients from the ocean all the way to interior forestlands.
Maintain Healthy Watersheds
The simple presence of salmon in streams helps to create healthy habitat for a wide range of species.
See Where Salmon Thrive
The Eight Species of Pacific Salmon
Sockeye
With bright red bodies, green heads, and hooked jaws, sockeye are the world's third most prevalent salmon species—and one of the most iconic.
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Chinook
Chinook are one of the largest and most prized salmon species. But they're at risk of extinction across their southern range: from California to Washington and as far east as Idaho.
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Coho
Coho populations are small yet widely distributed. Coho often make use of coastal streams and off-channel wintering habitats that are highly vulnerable to agriculture and logging.
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Chum
Chum are the most widely distributed of species of Pacific salmon, traveling as far as 7,700 miles to spawn in side channels of rivers.
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Pink
Pink salmon are the most abundant of Pacific salmon. They (along with masu) are also the smallest, and are also the most limited upriver migrators.
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Masu
Masu, or cherry salmon, are the other smallest species of salmon. Masu are found only in the Western Pacific, from the Kuril Islands to Korea, Japan, and even Taiwan.
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Steelhead
Steelhead are actually a unique form of rainbow trout that are born in freshwater, migrate to the ocean, and return to freshwater to spawn (sometimes multiple times).
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Taimen
Taimen are the world's largest salmonids. They can surpass six feet in length, grow more than 100 pounds in weight, and live 30 years or more.
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How Salmon Shape our Lives
Wire Transfer
Communities
Economies
Ecosystems
Wild Salmon Are Under Threat
Salmon face many challenges in nature, but today their greatest threats come from people.
Large-Scale Industrial Development
Mining, clear-cut logging, and other large-scale development represent the single greatest threat to wild salmon rivers across the North Pacific.
Dams and Other Barriers
In many rivers, wild salmon face steady incursions into their habitat through dams and other barriers—a road here, a drained wetland there—that over time have pushed many runs to the brink.
Overfishing
A century of overfishing and accidental harvest by commercial, recreational, and sport fishers has reduced salmon abundance and genetic diversity.
Climate Change
Increasingly volatile weather conditions are heating salmon streams, destabilizing ecosystems, and increasing the risk of natural disasters like landslides.
How You Can Help
To protect wild salmon, it’s going to take all of us. Here’s what you can do to make a difference.
Donate
The support of people like you enables all our work in the wild. By donating, you become part of our team.
Take Action
To secure long-term protection for wild fish, help us contact elected officials and ask them to stand up for salmon.
Shop Wild
Buying the right salmon has wide-reaching benefits for wild fish. Here’s what to look for when you shop.
Join the Movement
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Stay up to date on what we’re doing for wild salmon and how you can help.