Strongholds for Pacific salmon: A proactive conservation strategy for ecosystem health, food security, biodiversity, and climate resilience

Abstract: Nested within the linked global crises of biodiversity loss and climate change are threats to cultural and ecological keystones such as Pacific salmon Oncorhynchus spp., a group of species with widespread ecological, cultural, and economic value. Wild salmon can rally public support for ecosystem protection and link place-based conservation efforts to global biodiversity and climate benefits. Realizing these benefits depends on leveraging broad support for salmon conservation to advance forward-looking approaches that safeguard food security, biodiversity, and climate resilience. Here we provide insights from the multidecadal implementation of a proactive wild salmon ecosystem conservation strategy at the scale of the North Pacific Rim. This approach is a necessary complement to policies focused on preventing species extinction after populations and habitats are degraded and it provides globally significant contributions to biodiversity and climate targets including recent 30 × 30 goals of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

Guido R. Rahr III, Matthew R. Sloat, William I. Atlas, Jonathan L. Hart. Published in Fisheries (2025).