State of Skagit Salmon

The Skagit River still hosts all five species of Pacific salmon as well as steelhead, bull trout and lamprey, and is often called the “last, best hope” for anadromous species in our region.

Three Skagit anadromous species have been listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) due to their decline throughout the broader Puget Sound region:

• Puget Sound Chinook Salmon (listed 1999)
• Puget Sound Bull Trout (listed 1999)
• Puget Sound Steelhead (listed 2007)

Southern Resident Killer Whales (Orcas) that feed on Chinook and other Puget Sound anadromous species were listed as endangered under the ESA in 2004, a more serious classification that triggers highly protective regulations.

Despite significant salmon habitat improvement effort in alignment with the federally-adopted 2005 Skagit Chinook Recovery Plan, ESA-listed chinook have nevertheless continued to decline.

But there are also major Skagit River salmon success stories. Thanks to the fish passage system required at the Baker Hydroelectric Project by Puget Sound Energy’s federal license, Baker River sockeye salmon have recovered from a low of fewer than 100 fish in 1985 to a record return of nearly 92,000 fish in 2025, providing significant harvest opportunity for Skagit tribal and non-tribal communities alike.  

What is Skagit County Government Doing to Help?

• In partnership with Skagit tribes and resource agencies, we are working hard to hold the City of Seattle accountable to install fish passage at its Skagit River hydroelectric dams, seeking to replicate the proven success that fish passage has created at most other dams in the Pacific Northwest.
• We are working with Skagit tribes and resource agencies to coordinate major high-priority estuary restoration projects that will also improve infrastructure resilience and public safety.
• We are working through a carefully-prioritized list of road culvert replacement projects that remove barriers to salmon, opening miles of previously-blocked habitat
• We’re working to protect and improve water quality standards for the Samish and Skagit system through our Clean Water Program, in cooperation with the State Department of Ecology.
• Our Voluntary Stewardship Program (VSP) helps acquire and plant riparian buffers along salmon-bearing streams that run through Skagit County farmland
• Through our Farmland Legacy Program supported by local tax dollars and some of the nation’s most restrictive rural zoning, we have protected over 15,000 acres of land and the broader ecosystem from intensive development that has heavily damaged salmon runs in the highly urbanized Puget Sound watersheds to our south.

How Can I Help?

See our list of ways individuals can assist salmon recovery in the Skagit watershed.