The Columbia River historically supported one of the greatest salmon and steelhead runs on Earth. Prior to the 1840s, up to 16 million salmon and steelhead returned to the Columbia River to spawn each year. Unfortunately, by the end of the 20th century that number declined to less than 1 million fish annually. In response to the severe population declines of Columbia River salmon by the 1990s, as the result of habitat degradation in the basin, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) designated 13 stocks of anadromous salmonids as Federally threatened or endangered with extinction under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). There are currently 28 listed stocks of salmon and steelhead, plus an additional three more classified as "Species [...]
