WASHINGTON (CN) - The National Marine Fisheries Service seeks comment on its draft Recovery Plan for Evolutionarily Significant Unit populations of Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast coho salmon.
The populations include all naturally spawned coho salmon in coastal streams between Cape Blanco, Oregon, and Punta Gorda, California, and in three artificially-bred hatchery programs.
The Southern Oregon/Northern California Coast coho salmon were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, in 1997, and critical habitat was designated in 1999. Final protective regulations were issued in 2005, and the agency determined the threatened status was still valid, in August 2011.
During the last thirty years, West Coast salmon populations have declined due to human activities and natural events that have reduced spawning, rearing, and migration habitat.
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