Recovering Threatened and 

Endangered Species

FY 2015 - 2016 Report to Congress
Recovering Threatened and 

Endangered Species 

FY 2015-2016 Report to Congress

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

National Marine Fisheries Service

Office of Protected Resources
Contents

Letter from the Assistant Administrator 6

Background 8

Overview 10

Table 1: ESA-Listed Species Under NMFS Jurisdiction 12

Recovery – Our Journey 22

Atlantic Salmon Gulf of Maine 25

Central California Coast Coho 33

Cook Inlet Beluga Whale 43

Hawaiian Monk Sea 51

Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle 59

Sacramento River Winter-run Chinook 67

Southern Resident Killer Whale 75

White Abalone 83

Recommended Citation:

National Marine Fisheries Service. 2017. Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species, FY 2015 - 2016 Report to 

Congress. National Marine Fisheries Service. Silver Spring, MD.

Copies of this report may be obtained from:

Office of Protected Resources – F/PR3 

National Marine Fisheries Service

1315 East-West Highway 

Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226

Or online at:

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/endangered-species-biennial-report-2014-2016 

Cover Photo Credit: Mark Sullivan

Photo Credit: Candice Emmons, NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center
6 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species

Congress recognized, when enacting the Endangered Species 

Act (ESA) in 1973, that collaboration between federal agencies, 

states, and interested stakeholders was essential to recovering 

species listed under the Act. Thanks to the combined efforts of 

government agencies and our partners, we have had success in 

preventing the extinction of over 100 species protected under 

the ESA. While this is a substantial and laudable achievement, 

it is only half of the battle. By working together, government 

agencies and our partners can ensure these species and their 

habitats recover and thrive, benefiting coastal communities and 

all Americans for generations to come.

In 2015, we announced the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) Species in the Spotlight 

initiative in the FY 2013–2014 Report to Congress. We launched the initiative as a way to marshal 

resources within NMFS, as well as those of vital partners, and garner greater support of the American 

public to address immediate needs to help stabilize the declining populations of eight endangered 

species. Our goal is to recover species to the point where they no longer need the protections of 

the ESA and can be removed from the list. To achieve that goal, we must start by halting species 

population declines. We developed five-year action plans, created with the involvement of local 

partners and stakeholders, to focus collective efforts to benefit the recovery of our Species in the 

Spotlight. We are seeing results. This report contains an update on the progress being made for each 

species and highlights “Species in the Spotlight Heroes” who are making this progress possible.

The report provides a snapshot of the status of the domestic species we work to conserve and 

recover under the ESA. We know federal agencies cannot do this alone. Our strategy is to expand our 

engagement with federal, state, tribal, local agencies, industries, non-governmental organizations, 

academia, foundations, and the public to take actions to promote species recovery. We know this 

approach is working as we have seen with recent conservation successes of humpback whales, 

green sea turtles, and the Eastern distinct population segment of Steller sea lions. 

In 2016, NMFS determined that 9 out of 14 distinct population segments of humpback whales, 

including Hawaii and West Indies, did not warrant listing under the ESA. These distinct population 

segments are now healthy and threats have been abated largely through the efforts of our national 

and international partners. Examples of efforts to protect humpback whales include vessel approach 

regulations off Alaska to prevent disruption of normal feeding, breeding, nursing, or resting activities. 

The United States is also a party to the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling, which 

set a zero catch limit for humpback whales beginning in 1985 that remains today.

When green sea turtles were listed under the ESA in 1978, the future for the breeding populations 

in Florida and the Pacific coast of Mexico did not look bright. In those and many other places 

around the world, it was common for people to kill nesting green sea turtles, collect their eggs, 

and capture and kill the turtles in their feeding areas for commercial and local consumption. Green 

sea turtles were also commonly killed as a result of bycatch and drowning in commercial and 

artisanal fisheries, including in gillnets, trawls, pound nets, and on hook-and-line gear. Years of 

coordinated conservation efforts have resulted in increasing numbers of turtles nesting in Florida 

and along the Pacific Coast of Mexico. As a result, distinct population segments that encompass 

those breeding populations were classified as threatened rather than endangered. 

Reported previously, the Eastern distinct population segment of Steller sea lions was removed 

from the ESA list in 2013. The delisting of this population of Steller sea lions—which was once 

threatened by direct harvests, predator control programs, and intentional shooting—demonstrates 

that species can recover with targeted conservation efforts. Special protections were put in place 

to prohibit shooting at or within specified distances of Steller sea lions, and this action brought 

about heightened public awareness of the species’ plight, enhanced its conservation, strengthened 

our ability to reduce illegal shooting, reduced disturbance to the species on terrestrial sites, helped 

maintain the conservation values of its habitat, and ultimately allowed for its recovery.

Despite the successes for species under our jurisdiction, conservation efforts and partnerships 

will continue to be essential for species at risk of extinction. For example, while in the late 1990s 

and early 2000s, there were positive signs that the critically endangered population of North 

Atlantic right whales was recovering, new information received after this report went to press 

indicates that the species has been in a state of decline since 2010. Additionally, this summer the 

species suffered a mortality of nearly 3 percent of its population, with most of the deaths observed 

in Canadian waters. We have updated this report’s table of species status to reflect the new 

information. We will determine whether to add North Atlantic right whales to our Species in the 

Spotlight list for the next Biennial Report.

The species faces the continued threat of human-caused mortality primarily due to lethal interactions 

with commercial fisheries and shipping traffic. And we are still uncertain what the long-term effect 

entanglements and other environmental stressors may have in limiting right whale calving and 

recovery. Management measures in the United States have been in place for an extended period, 

and through those efforts we have made significant progress in reducing lethal interactions with 

human activities. However, these threats are not limited to the United States. We are expanding our 

partnership with Canada to collectively address the North Atlantic right whale’s decline. Those efforts 

include convening expert working groups to determine the effectiveness of current management 

measures, investigating the recent mortality events to understand the cause of those deaths, 

and convening a recovery team to focus on key recovery actions for this species given the new 

information.

We are improving NMFS programs for recovering threatened and endangered species. In April 

of 2016, NMFS hosted a National Recovery Program Review with outside experts to evaluate 

the efficacy of the recovery planning process, including the quality of the recovery plans, the 

implementation of recovery actions, and the monitoring of recovery progress. The panelists 

offered recommendations to build upon successes and improve the recovery program. We are 

acting on many of these recommendations, including enhancing recovery priorities based on more 

detailed and transparent criteria (see Table 1). With more improvements like this, NMFS looks 

forward to greater success for our species in the years to come.

We all depend on and enjoy the same clean ocean and beaches, running rivers, clear air, and 

hardy underwater habitats. Our efforts to recover threatened and endangered species also benefit 

commercially and recreationally valuable marine species, and in turn the coastal communities 

that depend upon them for fisheries and tourism. For example, river herring are a very important 

commercial species in Maine, as they are the most sought after and desired bait sources for 

Maine’s most profitable fishery—the lobster fishery. In the Penobscot River, annual river herring 

returns were about 1,000, but now exceed 1.8 million because dams were removed to protect 

Atlantic salmon. We look forward to your continued support and help to ensure we do not lose any 

of the species in our charge.

Chris Oliver

Assistant Administrator for Fisheries

Letter from the 

Assistant Administrator
8 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 9

The primary purpose of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) of 1973, as amended (16 United 

States Code sections 1531–1544) is the conservation of endangered and threatened species and 

the ecosystems on which they depend. Conservation is defined as “...the use of all methods 

and procedures which are necessary to bring any endangered species or threatened species 

to the point at which the measures provided pursuant to this Act are no longer necessary.” As 

one means of achieving recovery, the ESA requires the development of recovery plans for listed 

endangered or threatened species (except those species for which it is determined that such 

a plan will not promote the conservation of the species). These plans organize and guide the 

recovery process.

The ESA amendments of 1988 added a requirement that the Secretaries of Commerce and the 

Interior report to Congress every two years on the status of efforts to develop and implement 

recovery plans, and on the status of all species for which recovery plans have been developed 

(section 4(f)(3)). The Secretary of Commerce has delegated responsibility for endangered and 

threatened species recovery to the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) of the National 

Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This is the 14th Report to Congress on the 

status of the recovery program for these species. 

Photo Credit: Michael Barnette NOAA

Background
10 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 11

Recovery is the process of restoring listed species and their ecosystems to the point they no 

longer require the protections of the ESA. A recovery plan serves as a road map for species 

recovery—it lays out where to go and how to get there. Without a plan to organize, coordinate, 

and prioritize recovery actions, the efforts by so many agencies, non-profit organizations, tribal 

entities, stakeholders, and citizens may be inefficient, ineffective, or misdirected. Recovery plans 

are guidance documents, not regulatory, and the ESA clearly envisions recovery plans as the 

central organizing tool guiding each species’ progress toward recovery.

This report summarizes efforts to recover all domestic species under NMFS’ jurisdiction from 

October 1, 2014, through September 30, 2016. It includes a summary table (Table 1) outlining 

the status of each species the Secretary has found would benefit from having a recovery plan, 

the status of the recovery plan, and the date the last five-year review was completed.

With this report, NMFS is updating progress made on its strategic approach to endangered 

species recovery that focuses agency resources on species for which immediate, targeted 

efforts are needed to stabilize their populations and prevent extinction. This report highlights 

progress made on recovery efforts for the eight species identified in the Species in the Spotlight 

initiative. They are notable because the best available information points to their extinction in 

the near future because of rapid population decline or habitat destruction. These species need 

focused human intervention to stabilize their population declines and prevent their extinction.

During the two years covered in this report (October 1, 2014 – September 30, 2016), the 

number of listed species under NMFS jurisdiction increased 18 percent. During that period, 

we managed 93 domestic (includes some transnational) species of salmon, sturgeon, sawfish, 

seagrass, mollusks, sea turtles, corals, and marine mammals, and 54 foreign species. In this 

report, we address the 87 domestic species for which a recovery plan was found to promote its 

conservation, including 10 newly listed domestic species1:

• 3 Humpback Whale Distinct Population Segments (DPSs) (2 foreign for total 5 listed): 

Central America and Western North Pacific DPSs listed as endangered and Mexico DPS 

listed as threatened on September 8, 2016 (81 FR 62259)

• 6 Green sea turtle DPSs (5 foreign for total 11 listed): Eastern Pacific, Central North Pacific, 

North Atlantic, and South Atlantic DPSs listed as threatened and Central West Pacific and 

Central South Pacific DPSs listed as endangered on April 2, 2016 (81 FR 20057)

• Nassau Grouper listed as threatened on June 29, 2016 (81 FR 42268).

Between October 1, 2014, and September 30, 2016, of the 87 domestic listed species for which 

a recovery plan was found to promote its conservation, 44 had final recovery plans, 3 had a 

draft recovery plan, 19 plans were in development, and 21 species recovery plans had not been 

started. Because we have many multispecies plans, as well as multiple plans for one species 

(marine turtles), the number of plans does not directly correspond with the number of species.

Between October 1, 2014, and September 30, 2016, the status of the 87 domestic endangered 

or threatened species for which recovery plans have or will be developed was:

• 27 (31%) were stabilized or increasing.

• 16 (18%) were known to be declining.

• 12 (14%) were mixed, with their status varying by population location.

• 32 (37%) were unknown, because we lacked sufficient trend data to make a determination.

Since the FY 2013–2014 Biennial Report on status of population trends, these percentages 

reflect a 4% increase in declining trends; a 3% decrease in increasing trends; a 5% increase in 

mixed trends; and a 6% decrease in unknown trends. A list of the domestic species managed 

by NMFS and for which recovery plans have been found to benefit such species (87 species) 

is provided in Table 1. The table lists the status of each species/subspecies/Evolutionarily 

Significant Unit (ESU)/DPS (unknown, decreasing, mixed, stable, or increasing), the recovery 

priority number, the status of the recovery plan, and the date the last five-year review was 

completed. Additional information on these species is available online at http://www.fisheries.

noaa.gov/ species-directory/threatened-endangered.

Recovery plans are available online at

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/endangered-species-conservation/recovery-speciesunder-endangered-species-act#recovery-plans

Recovery plans may also be requested by writing to:

Endangered Species Division – Recovery Plans 

Office of Protected Resources – F/PR3 

National Marine Fisheries Service

1315 East-West Highway 

Silver Spring, MD 20910-3226

This report is available online via the NMFS Office of Protected Resources website at

https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/endangered-species-biennial-report-2014-2016 

1 The ESA defines a species as any subspecies of fish or wildlife or plants, and any distinct population segment of any 

species of vertebrate fish or wildlife which interbreeds when mature.

Photo Credit: NOAA

Overview
12 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 13

Species

Subspecies

ESU/DPS

Date Listed

Reclassified

ESA

Status Trend Recovery 

Priority 

Number1

New 

Proposed 

Recovery 

Priority 

Number2

Status of Recovery Plan

Date 5-Year 

Status 

Review 

Completed3 

SEA TURTLES

GREEN SEA TURTLE

-Central North 

Pacific DPS

07/1978;

04/2016 T Increasing 7 17

1978 Listing: Completed 

01/1998 (Pacific); 10/1991 

(Atlantic);

2016 Listing: Not Started

03/2015

-Central West 

Pacific DPS

07/1978;

04/2016

E Unknown 3 12 1978 Listing: Completed 

01/1998 (Pacific); 10/1991 

(Atlantic);

2016 Listing: Not Started

03/2015

-Central South 

Pacific DPS

07/1978;

04/2016

E Unknown 3 12 1978 Listing: Completed 

01/1998 (Pacific); 10/1991 

(Atlantic);

2016 Listing: Not Started

03/2015

-South Atlantic DPS 07/1978;

04/2016

T Mixed 5 10 1978 Listing: Completed 

01/1998 (Pacific); 10/1991 

(Atlantic);

2016 Listing: Not Started

03/2015

-East Pacific DPS 07/1978;

04/2016

T Mixed 5 15 1978 Listing: Completed 

01/1998 (Pacific); 10/1991 

(Atlantic);

2016 Listing: Not Started

03/2015

- North Atlantic 

DPS

07/1978;

04/2016

T Increasing 5 8 1978 Listing: Completed 

01/1998 (Pacific); 10/1991 

(Atlantic);

2016 Listing: Not Started

03/2015

Hawksbill Sea 

Turtle

06/1970 E Mixed 3 6 Completed 01/1998 (Pacific); 

12/1993 (Atlantic)

06/2015

Species

Subspecies

ESU/DPS

Date Listed

Reclassified

ESA

Status Trend Recovery 

Priority 

Number1

New 

Proposed 

Recovery 

Priority 

Number2

Status of Recovery Plan

Date 5-Year 

Status 

Review 

Completed3 

Kemp’s Ridley Sea 

Turtle

12/1970 E Unknown 5 1 Completed 08/1992; Revision 

Completed 09/2011

07/2015

Leatherback Sea 

Turtle

06/1970 E Mixed 1 3 Completed 01/1998 (Pacific); 

04/1992 (Atlantic)

11/2013

LOGGERHEAD SEA TURTLE

-Northwest Atlantic 

Ocean DPS

07/1978;

09/2011

T Stable 5 8 12/1991; Revision Completed 

01/2009

08/2009

(full status 

review)

-North Pacific 

Ocean DPS

07/1978;

09/2011

E Stable 3 10 Completed 01/1998; Revision 

Under Development

08/2009

(full status 

review); 

5-Year 

Review 

Initiated 

10/2016

OLIVE RIDLEY SEA TURTLE

- Breeding colony 

populations of 

Pacific coast 

Mexico

07/1978 E Mixed 5 10 Completed 01/1998 06/2014

-Rangewide 07/1978 T Mixed 5 15 Completed 01/1998 06/2014

ESA-Listed Species Under NMFS Jurisdiction

Table 1: ESA Listed Species Under NMFS Jurisdiction

ESA listed species under NMFS Jurisdiction through September 30, 2016, for which recovery plans were 

determined to promote the conservation of the species, including listing status, trends, priority number, recovery 

plan status, and 5-year review completion.
14 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 15

Species

Subspecies

ESU/DPS

Date Listed

Reclassified

ESA

Status Trend Recovery 

Priority 

Number1

New 

Proposed 

Recovery 

Priority 

Number2

Status of Recovery Plan

Date 5-Year 

Status 

Review 

Completed3

PACIFIC SALMON

CHINOOK

Chinook, Puget Sound 

ESU

03/1999;

06/20054 T Stable 9 8

08/2011; Review Initiated 

2/2015 05/2016

Chinook, Lower 

Columbia River ESU

06/20054 T Stable 9 8 Completed 07/2013 05/2016

Chinook, Upper 

Columbia River, 

Spring-run ESU

03/1999; 

06/20054

E Stable 5 4 Completed 10/2007 05/2016

Chinook, Snake 

River Fall-run ESU

04/1992; 

06/20054

T Increasing 9 7 Draft Completed 11/2015 05/2016

Chinook, Snake 

River Spring/

Summer-run ESU

04/1992; 

06/20054

T Stable 9 7 Draft Completed 10/20165 05/2016

Chinook, Upper 

Willamette River ESU

03/1999;

06/20054

T Decreasing 9 4 Completed 08/2011 05/2016

Chinook, California 

Coastal ESU

09/1999;

06/20054

T Unknown 5 4 Completed 10/20165 05/2016

Chinook, Central 

Valley Spring-run 

ESU

09/1999;

06/20054

T Decreasing 5 4 Completed 07/2014 05/2016

Chinook, 

Sacramento River 

Winter-run ESU

11/1990;

1/19947;

06/20054

E Decreasing 1 1 Completed 07/2014 12/2016

CHUM

Chum, Hood Canal 

Summer-run ESU

03/1999;

06/20054

T Increasing 9 8 Completed 05/2007 05/2016

Chum, Columbia 

River ESU

03/1999;

06/20054

T Stable 9 4 Completed 07/2013 05/2016

COHO

Coho, Lower 

Columbia River ESU

03/1999;

06/20054

T Stable 9 4 Completed 07/2013 05/2016

Species

Subspecies

ESU/DPS

Date Listed

Reclassified

ESA

Status Trend Recovery 

Priority 

Number1

New 

Proposed 

Recovery 

Priority 

Number2

Status of Recovery Plan

Date 5-Year 

Status 

Review 

Completed3

Coho, Oregon 

Coast ESU

08/19984;

02/2008

T Increasing 11 8 Completed 12/20165 05/2016

Coho, Southern 

Oregon/ Northern 

California Coast 

ESU

05/1997;

06/20054

T Unknown 5 4 Completed 09/2014 05/2016

Coho, Central 

California Coast 

ESU

10/1996;

06/20054

E Unknown 1 1 Completed 09/2012 05/2016

SOCKEYE

Sockeye, Ozette 

Lake ESU

03/1999;

06/20054

T Stable 6 7 Completed 05/2009 05/2016

Sockeye, Snake 

River ESU

11/1991;

06/20054

E Increasing 5 7 Draft Completed 07/2014 05/2016

STEELHEAD

Steelhead, Puget 

Sound DPS

05/2007 T Stable 11 13 Under Development 05/2016

Steelhead, Lower 

Columbia River DPS

03/1998;

01/20064

T Stable 9 8 Completed 07/2013 05/2016

Steelhead, Upper 

Columbia River DPS

08/1997;

01/20064

T Increasing 9 8 Completed 10/2007 05/2016

Steelhead, Middle

Columbia River 

DPS

03/1999;

01/20064

T Stable 9 8 Completed 09/2009 05/2016

Steelhead, Upper 

Willamette River 

DPS

03/1999;

01/20064

T Decreasing 9 4 Completed 08/2011 05/2016

ESA-Listed Species Under NMFS Jurisdiction
16 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 17

Species

Subspecies

ESU/DPS

Date Listed

Reclassified

ESA

Status Trend Recovery 

Priority 

Number1

New 

Proposed 

Recovery 

Priority 

Number2

Status of Recovery Plan

Date 5-Year 

Status 

Review 

Completed3

PACIFIC SALMON (CONTINUED)

STEELHEAD

Steelhead, Snake 

River Basin DPS

08/1997;

01/20064

T Stable 9 7 Draft Completed 10/20165 05/2016

Steelhead, Northern 

California DPS

06/2000;

01/20064

T Unknown 5 4 Completed 10/20165 05/2016

Steelhead, Central 

California Coast 

DPS

08/1997;

01/20064

T Unknown 5 4 Completed 10/20165 05/2016

Steelhead, 

South-Central 

California Coast 

DPS

08/1997;

01/20064

T Unknown 3 4 Completed 12/2013 05/2016

Steelhead, 

Southern 

California Coast 

DPS

08/1997;

05/20026;

01/20064

E Unknown 3 1 Completed 01/2012 05/2016

Steelhead, 

California Central 

Valley DPS

03/1998;

01/20064

T Unknown 5 4 Completed 07/2014 05/2016

ATLANTIC SALMON

Gulf of Maine DPS 11/2000;

06/20098

E Decreasing 1 1 2000 Listing: Completed Listing 

11/20058; 2009 Revised Listing: 

Draft Completed 05/2015

12/2016

NON-SALMONID FISH

ATLANTIC STURGEON

-Gulf of Maine DPS 02/2012 T Stable 5 7 Not Started N/A

-New York Bight 

DPS

02/2012 E Decreasing 5 2 Not Started N/A

Species

Subspecies

ESU/DPS

Date Listed

Reclassified

ESA

Status Trend Recovery 

Priority 

Number1

New 

Proposed 

Recovery 

Priority 

Number2

Status of Recovery Plan

Date 5-Year 

Status 

Review 

Completed3

-Chesapeake Bay 

DPS

02/2012 E Decreasing 5 2 Not Started N/A

-Carolina DPS 02/2012 E Unknown 5 2 Not Started N/A

-South Atlantic DPS 02/2012 E Unknown 5 2 Not Started N/A

Bocaccio - Puget 

Sound/Georgia 

Basin DPS 

04/2010 E Unknown 1 3 Draft Completed 08/2016 05/2016

Eulachon, 

Southern DPS

03/2010 T Increasing 7 11 Draft Completed 10/20165 05/2016

Green Sturgeon, 

Southern DPS

04/2006 T Stable 5 7 Co-Manager Draft 03/2017 08/2015

Gulf 

Sturgeon

09/1991 T Mixed 7 17 Completed 09/1995 09/2009

Nassau Grouper 06/2016 T Unknown 5 10 Not Started N/A

Shortnose Sturgeon 03/1967 E Mixed 5 7 Completed 12/1998 In progress

Smalltooth Sawfish, 

U.S. DPS

04/2003 E Increasing 5 7 Completed 01/2009 10/2010; 

Initiated 5-Year 

Review 

01/2016

Yelloweye rockfish 

– Puget Sound/

Georgia Basin DPS

04/2010 T Unknown 5 10 Draft Completed 08/2016 05/2016

ESA-Listed Species Under NMFS Jurisdiction
18 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 19

Species

Subspecies

ESU/DPS

Date Listed

Reclassified

ESA

Status Trend Recovery 

Priority 

Number1

New 

Proposed 

Recovery 

Priority 

Number2

Status of Recovery Plan

Date 5-Year 

Status 

Review 

Completed3

PLANTS

Johnson’s Seagrass09/1998 T Stable 5 4 Completed 09/2002 11/2007

INVERTEBRATES

Black Abalone 01/2009 E Mixed 5 1 Under Development In progress

White Abalone 05/2001 E Unknown 1 1 Completed 10/2008 In progress

Lobed Star Coral 09/2014 T Decreasing 7 4 Recovery Outline Completed 

03/2015

N/A

Mountainous Star 

Coral

09/2014 T Decreasing 7 4 Recovery Outline Completed 

03/2015

N/A

Boulder Star Coral 09/2014 T Decreasing 7 4 Recovery Outline Completed 

03/2015

N/A

Pillar Coral 09/2014 T Decreasing 7 4 Recovery Outline Completed 

03/2015

N/A

Rough Cactus 

Coral

09/2014 T Stable 7 8 Recovery Outline Completed 

03/2015

N/A

7 Indo-Pacific 

Corals (15 listed 

but at least 7 

species within 

U.S. jurisdiction

09/2014 T Unknown 7 17 Recovery Outline Completed 

06/2015

N/A

Elkhorn Coral 05/2006 T Decreasing 7 4 Completed 03/2015 08/2014

Staghorn Coral 05/2006 T Mixed 7 4 Completed 03/2015 08/2014

Species

Subspecies 

ESU/DPS

Date Listed

Reclassified

ESA

Status Trend Recovery 

Priority 

Number1

New 

Proposed 

Recovery 

Priority 

Number2

Status of Recovery Plan

Date 5-Year 

Status Review 

Completed3

SEALS AND SEA LIONS

Bearded Seal 

DPS,- 

Beringia

12/2012 E Unknown 7 22 Under Development N/A

Hawaiian 

Monk Seal

11/1976 E Mixed 1 1 Completed 03/1983; Revision 

Completed 08/2007; Amended 

with Main Hawaiian Island 

Monk Seal Management Plan 

01/2016

08/2007

Stellar Sea 

Lion DPS -

Western 

04/1990; 

01/26/1990; 

5/5/1997

E Mixed 7 13 Completed 12/1992; Revision 

Completed 03/2008

In progress

WHALES

Beluga 

Whale DPS -

Cook Inlet

10/2008 E Decreasing 5 1 Completed 01/20175 02/2017

Blue Whale 06/1970 E Stable 11 20 Completed 07/1998; Notice to 

Revise 04/2012

In progress

False Killer 

Whale DPS - Main 

Hawaiian 

Islands 

Insular

11/2012 E Decreasing 3 9 Under Development N/A

Fin Whale 06/1970 E Unknown 11 12 Completed 07/2010 12/2011

ESA-Listed Species Under NMFS Jurisdiction
20 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species

Species

Subspecies

ESU/DPS

Date Listed

Reclassified

ESA

Status Trend Recovery 

Priority 

Number1

New 

Proposed 

Recovery 

Priority 

Number2

Status of Recovery Plan

Date 5-Year 

Status 

Review 

Completed3

WHALES

HUMPBACK WHALE

– Central America 

DPS

06/1970;

09/2016

E Unknown 3 2 1970 Listing: Completed 

11/1991; 2016 Listing: Not 

Started

N/A

– Mexico DPS 06/1970;

09/2016

T Unknown 7 7 1970 Listing: Completed 

11/1991; 2016 Listing: Not 

Started

N/A

– Western North 

Pacific DPS

06/1970;

09/2016

E Unknown 7 16 1970 Listing: Completed 

11/1991; 2016 Listing: Not 

Started

N/A

Killer whale DPS - 

Southern Resident

11/2005 E Decreasing 1 5 Completed 01/2008 12/2016

North Atlantic Right 

Whale

06/1970; 

03/2008

E Decreasing 3 1 Completed 05/2005 09/2012

North Pacific Right 

Whale

06/1970; 

03/2008

E Unknown 3 16 Completed 06/2013 07/2012

Sei Whale 06/1970 E Unknown 11 12 Completed 12/2011 06/2012

Sperm Whale 06/1970 E Unknown 7 16 Completed 12/2010 06/2015

1

 Recovery Priority Numbers are designated according to guidelines published by NMFS on June 15, 1990 (55 FR 24296).

2

 Draft Revised Recovery Priority Guidelines published on May 31, 2017 (82 FR 24944).

3

 For species listed within 5 years, a N/A (Not Applicable) is applied to the 5-Year Review Status.

4

 In Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans, 161 F. Supp. 2d 1154 (D. Or. 2001) (Alsea), the U.S. District Court in Eugene, Oregon, ruled that NMFS could not 

exclude hatchery fish within the ESU when listing. Although the Alsea ruling affected only one ESU, subsequent to the ruling, NMFS initiated new status 

reviews for 27 ESUs and, in 2005, re-listed 15 ESUs of salmon with revised definitions of the populations to be included in the ESU, delisted one ESU (OR 

Coast coho) and listed one ESU (Lower Columbia River coho); and in 2006, re-listed 10 ESUs of steelhead (and called them DPSs).

5

 Completed outside of reporting period 10/1/2014 through 9/30/2016.

6 This ESU was first emergency-listed as threatened on 8/4/1989, then officially listed as threatened on 11/5/1990, then reclassified as endangered on 

1/4/1994.

7

 This ESU was first listed on 8/18/1997; the southern range extension to the U.S.-Mexico border was added to the listing for this ESU via a final rule on 

5/1/2002.

8

 The Gulf of Maine Atlantic Salmon DPS was originally listed on November 17, 2000 (65 FR 69469) and was revised to include the Androscoggin, 

Kennebec, and Penobscot River basins in 2009 (74 FR 29344, June 19, 2009). A recovery plan was completed in 2005 for the 2000 listing and a new 

recovery plan is under development for the 2009 revised listing.

ESA-Listed Species Under NMFS Jurisdiction

Photo Credit: John Durbin NOAA
22 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species

Recovery of threatened and endangered species is a long-term challenge requiring many 

partners interested in ensuring the health of our environment and our communities. We are 

required to conserve these species to a point that the protections provided under the ESA are no 

longer necessary. Our partners’ scientific and technical expertise are essential to effective onthe-ground recovery activities such as management, monitoring, research, and education and 

outreach. All told, NMFS turns to thousands of partners daily in the reach for recovery.

Building on the concept that coordinated efforts across many partners will help us achieve 

recovery, in the FY 2013–2014 Report to Congress, NMFS announced the Species in the 

Spotlight initiative to target recovery efforts for eight species considered most at-risk of 

extinction. We are seeing results from the initiative due largely from the efforts of our 

partners, detailed throughout this report. We developed five-year action plans, created with the 

involvement of local partners and stakeholders, to focus collective efforts to benefit the recovery 

of our Species in the Spotlight. While NMFS is working to recover all listed species under 

our jurisdiction, the following stories on the Species in the Spotlight highlight progress and 

challenges since the last report. Equally important, the stories highlight our numerous partners 

and call out several partners who have put forward exceptional efforts to help conserve these 

valuable natural resources.

Cook Inlet Beluga Whale

• Continued supporting partner’s long-term research 

project to catalog this cryptic population via non-invasive photo ID methods.

• Continuing a biopsy sampling study initiated in 2016 

which resulted in six biopsy samples to gain insight into 

genetics, sex, reproductive status, and contaminant loads. 

• Garnered support of over 20 partners to plan the first 

annual large-scale Cook Inlet beluga whales community 

outreach effort “Belugas Count!” for September 9, 2017. 

• Increased partner interest has helped double the number 

of Cook Inlet beluga research studies in 2017 vs. 2016.

• Continued support for biennial summer aerial surveys to 

assess abundance and population trends (which 

estimated 328 belugas in 2016), and began 

working with BOEM to conduct aerial surveys of winter 

habitat use.

Atlantic Salmon

• Completed 30 connectivity projects in 

Maine to restore aquatic connectivity and stream 

processes.

• These projects restores access to 35 miles of 

streams important to Atlantic salmon and other 

economically important fish including river herring.

• Improved downstream smolt survival by modifying design and operations of 2 dams in the Penobscot River.

Central California Coho Salmon

• Conservation hatchery efforts prevented extinction 

and improved genetic diversity, leading to successful 

reproduction of returning salmon in previously 

unoccupied areas.

• Released over 106,000 smolts from Scott Creek 

captive rearing program over 4 years (2013–2017).

• 3,800 acres of the Ten Mile River in a working 

lands conservation easement and 64,000 more acres 

planned for protection.

• Over 200 miles of streams restored within 5 

years.

Hawaiian Monk Seal

• Population increased by 3% annually between 

2013–2016, and now estimated to be ~1,400 seals.

• Launched first ever effort to vaccinate a wild population in 

2016, beginning with 42 seals in the main Hawaiian Islands 

and expanding to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands in 2017.

• Between 2015 and 2016, performed 114 interventions such as de-hooking and disentanglement to improve 

individual seals’ survival prospects.

• More than 6,100 sightings of monk seals called into 

public hotlines on Kauai, Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii Island in a 

single year.

• In commemoration of 10 years since the publication of the 

revised Recovery Plan for the Hawaiian Monk Seal and news 

of population increase, worked with partners to declare 2017 

the “Year of the Monk Seal.”

Pacific Leatherback

• Awarded over $300,000 in grants to assess 

leatherback interactions in coastal fisheries of 5 countries 

(Panama, Columbia, Peru, Chile, Philippines).

• Supported conservation of key nesting beaches in 

Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Mexico, 

Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

• Supported bycatch reduction projects to benefit Pacific 

leatherbacks.

• Strengthened international cooperation with several 

governments, particularly Indonesia and Mexico.

• Hosted 1st annual NOAA celebration of California 

Pacific Leatherback Day.

Sacramento River Chinook salmon

• Improved Shasta Reservoir cold water 

management to increase salmon egg survival in 2016.

• Completed plan to reintroduce winter-run Chinook 

salmon into Battle Creek.

• Constructed a fish barrier in 2015 to reduce straying 

of adult winter-run Chinook salmon on their upstream 

migration to spawning grounds.

• Used real-time data from acoustically tagged 

winter-run Chinook salmon juveniles in 2015 and 2016 

to minimize water export impacts.

Southern Resident killer whale

• Received over $2.5 million in NFWF 

grants and matching funds in 2015–2016 to fund 

research and conservation projects.

• Expanded enforcement and outreach efforts to help 

reduce impacts of vessel noise and improve compliance with whale-watching rules and guidelines in Puget 

Sound.

• Photographed all 83 SRKWs, conducted 15 

biopsies, and collected 50 fecal and prey samples to 

help assess health of the population.

• Taught a record high of 12,742 students in 206 

schools along the West Coast about killer whale 

science via the non-profit Killer Whale Tales program.

White abalone

• U.S. Navy committed to provide $2.1 million

for supporting NOAA Fisheries research through a 

7-year cooperative agreement.

• Collected wild broodstock to introduce genetic 

diversity to the captive population, including a female 

that contributed over 700,000 eggs to a successful spawning attempt in 2017.

• Raised thousands of healthy, captive white abalone 

in 6 culture facilities across CA, from Bodega Bay to 

San Diego.

• Formed new partnerships with 2 commercial 

aquaculture farms, the Honda Marine Science 

Foundation, the U.S. Navy, and scientists in Baja 

California, Mexico.

Action Plan Implementation Highlights 2016

Photo Credit: V. O’Connell, 2011

Recovery – Our Journey
24 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 25

SPECIES in the SPOTLIGHT

Atlantic Salmon Gulf of Maine

Distinct Population Segment
26 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 27

The Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) Gulf of Maine DPS is critically endangered. They meet the 

criteria for being one of the eight spotlight species because of their current dangerously low 

abundance and continuing declining population trend. Atlantic salmon are anadromous fish. 

They spend the first half of their life in freshwater rivers and streams and then mature in the 

seas between Northeastern Canada and Greenland before returning to their natal rivers to 

spawn. In the United States, Atlantic salmon populations historically extended as far south as 

Long Island Sound. However, all southern populations have been extirpated. Today, the only 

remaining population of Atlantic salmon in U.S. waters exists in a few rivers and streams in 

central and eastern Maine.

Recovery Progress

Since the launch of the Species in the Spotlight initiative in May 2015, we and our partners have 

been working to implement a five-year action plan for Atlantic salmon. These actions represent a 

critical subset of recovery actions identified in the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and NMFS draft 

recovery plan.

The action plan focuses on four key actions that may contribute significantly to Atlantic salmon 

recovery:

1.Reconnect the Gulf of Maine with headwater streams.

2.Increase the number of fish successfully entering the marine environment.

3.Reduce international fishery mortality in West Greenland.

4.Increase our understanding and ability to improve survival in the marine environment.

Reconnect the Gulf of Maine with Headwater Streams

Atlantic salmon require a diverse array of well-connected habitat types. Yet, salmon cannot 

access high quality habitats due to manmade barriers such as dams and culverts. High quality 

habitats exist throughout the state of Maine. However, dams block or impede access to more 

than 90 percent of Atlantic salmon’s historical freshwater habitat. Restoring access to as many 

habitats as possible within the range of the species is essential to preventing its extinction.

In 2016, 30 connectivity projects were completed in Maine. The primary goal of these projects 

is to reconnect aquatic habitat and restore ecological stream processes. More than 35 miles of 

stream were made accessible as a result of these projects. These efforts were made possible 

due to strong partnerships including Natural Resource Conservation Service; Penobscot Indian 

Nation; Project SHARE (a nongovernmental organization focused on salmon restoration efforts 

in Eastern Maine); Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife; Maine Department of 

Marine Resources; Maine Department of Agriculture; Conservation and Forestry; Atlantic 

Salmon Federation; U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; The Nature Conservancy; Downeast Lakes 

Land Trust; municipalities; lake associations; towns; and numerous private landowners.

Atlantic salmon smolts (approximately two years of age) can become trapped and die in 

turbines while migrating downstream. The major hydro-electric developer in Maine, Brookfield 

Renewable Energy, is working with us to identify and implement design and operational changes 

at their dams that work to minimize harm to Atlantic salmon while still enabling the company to 

generate power effectively. In 2016, downstream smolt survival goals were achieved at two of 

their hydro- electric dams in the Penobscot River through project modification and operational 

changes. Some project operational changes at dams on the Penobscot and Kennebec rivers 

were also made to improve upstream passage effectiveness, but studies have not yet been 

completed to assess the conservation benefit that these changes may provide to salmon.

In 2016, NMFS funded several projects that, when completed, will improve stream connectivity 

and survival of Atlantic salmon. These projects include evaluating fish passage at three 

impassable dams on the Orange River; removing five major road-crossing barriers on the 

Narraguagus River; and removing the Coopers Mills Dam on the Sheepscot River.

Increase the Number of Fish Successfully Entering the Marine Environment

In addition to restoring connectivity between marine and freshwater habitat, more smolts need 

to migrate from the rivers into the marine environment. To ensure recovery, Atlantic salmon 

need maximum smolt production during periods of low marine survival. Wild smolt production 

remains low for a variety of reasons including problems with connectivity and habitat quality.

Project SHARE is leading an effort to increase habitat suitability in the Narraguagus River. 

In 2016, Project SHARE conducted several instream restoration techniques to restore side 

channel habitat and restore habitat complexity in the Narraguagus River as part of the effort to 

increase the number of salmon smolts leaving the Narraguagus River and entering the ocean. 

Project SHARE is collaborating with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, NMFS, the University of 

Maine, Maine’s Department of Marine Resources, Boston College, Connecticut College, and the 

Canadian Rivers Institute on this effort.

Atlantic Salmon Gulf of Maine

Distinct Population Segment

Photo Credit: Don Dow, NMFS Greater Atlantic Region
28 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 29

Reduce International Fishery Mortality in West Greenland

High mortality rates in the marine environment represent an ongoing and significant threat 

to the species. The threats associated with low marine survival have propelled already low 

populations of Atlantic salmon in U.S. waters to the point of near extinction. U.S.-origin salmon 

are being captured in the mixed stock fishery at West Greenland, which poses a significant 

threat to Atlantic salmon recovery efforts in Maine.

Two key objectives of the U.S. delegation to North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization 

(NASCO) are to reduce the fishery at West Greenland to the lowest possible level and improve 

the monitoring and control of the fishery. In 2015, the West Greenland Commission adopted 

a new regulatory measure for the fishery. Key provisions of the regulatory measure include: 

export of Atlantic salmon is not allowed; any harvest above the quota level results in a reduction 

of the quota the following year; and increased monitoring, control, and surveillance of the 

fishery. However, a quota level could not be agreed to by all Parties to the West Greenland 

Commission. In the absence of a mutually-agreed quota, Denmark (in respect to the Faroe 

Islands and Greenland) unilaterally set a quota of 45mt in 2015. The report on the fishery in 

2015 revealed that the fishery exceeded the quota by at least 13mt. Consequently, Denmark 

reduced the quota for 2016 to 32mt (a 13mt reduction from the unilaterally set level of 45mt). 

Further, Denmark has agreed to continue to advance the monitoring and control of the fishery 

by requiring all fishers to have a license and to report what they catch, or potentially risk losing 

their license.

Increase our Understanding and Ability to Improve Survival in the Marine Environment

We are assessing the level of catch and mortality of U.S.-origin Atlantic salmon in distant water 

fisheries to understand the impacts on recovery. Natural marine survival will be assessed by:

1.Monitoring smolt production and adult returns.

2.Indexing estuary and coastal mortality and identifying location, intensity, and causes of high 

mortality.

3.Describing return migration of sub-adults from West Greenland. 

4.Quantifying and addressing the impacts of the reduced abundance and fitness of capelin, the 

primary prey resource for Atlantic salmon in the marine environment. This assessment will 

help inform management decisions and support U.S. negotiations at NASCO.

NMFS partnered with Department of Fisheries and Ocean Canada, Laval University, and the U.S. 

Geological Survey to complete mixed-stock analyses for West Greenland and Canadian fisheries. 

Although U.S. stocks contributed about 1 percent of catch, this harvest could still hinder the 

recovery of Atlantic salmon. These published studies support NMFS efforts to reduce harvest 

of U.S.-origin fish. Marine survival was documented by monitoring smolt emigration and adult 

returns through a cooperative agreement with the Maine Department of Marine Resources. 

Smolt monitoring was conducted in the Narraguagus and Sheepscot River systems and adult 

returns monitored in all rivers within the area designated as critical habitat. Naturally-reared fish 

continue to have higher marine survival than hatchery smolts, but overall return rates were low 

in 2016. Telemetry reports for the Dennys and Kennebec River systems, documented relatively 

high coastal mortality. Telemetry studies also continue in cooperation with the Greenland 

Institute of Natural Resources, Arctic University of Norway, and Centre for Environment, 

Fisheries and Aquaculture Science of the United Kingdom. A shift in salmon diet has been 

detected in pre-spawned adult salmon captured at Greenland. Salmon appear to be shifting their 

diet away from forage of capelin to other fish and invertebrates. These prey items are lower in 

calories compared to capelin. In addition, caloric content in many forage species has decreased 

significantly since the 1960s, which may impact Atlantic salmon.

Photo Credit: NMFS

Credit: Larry Shaw, NEFSC/NOAA

Atlantic Salmon Gulf of Maine

Distinct Population Segment
30 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 31

Andy Goode, Vice President of U.S. Programs for 

the Atlantic Salmon Federation, has been a leader 

in negotiating dam removals throughout the State 

of Maine. He was instrumental in negotiating and 

implementing the Penobscot River Restoration 

Project—a project that removed two mainstem dams 

on one of the last remaining Atlantic salmon rivers 

in the United States. Most recently, he successfully 

negotiated the removal of Coopers Mills Dam on the 

Sheepscot River. The dam, which has been a significant obstruction to Atlantic salmon, is a 

problem for which NGOs, the local community, state and federal partners have tried to find a 

collaborative solution for over 20 years. The issues with this dam were further complicated 

because of its use as a water source for local firefighting, as well as having important cultural 

connections to the community. Through perseverance, partnerships, and hard work, Andy 

Goode and the community were able to agree on a compromise. The solution creates a visitor’s 

area that memorializes the cultural and historical significance of the structure, ensures a water 

source for fire-fighting, and above all, allows for free passage of Atlantic salmon by removal of 

the dam. Because of Andy’s efforts in this restoration project and others, critically endangered 

Atlantic salmon will benefit from improved connectivity to important habitats vital to their 

recovery.

Atlantic Salmon 

Gulf of Maine

Spotlight Hero 

Andy Goode

Summary

The conservation efforts in 2016 substantially contributed to restoring the ecosystems upon 

which Atlantic salmon depend. Since 2013, we have seen a significant biological response to the 

tremendous work of all the stakeholders and partners engaged in restoration efforts for Atlantic 

salmon and the co-evolved suite of diadromous fish. The Penobscot River is a great example 

of these conservation successes. Although we acknowledge that Atlantic salmon continue to be 

a critically endangered species and much more work is needed to achieve recovery, we believe 

that the actions and protections afforded to salmon through the ESA have provided considerable 

conservation benefits to some of Maine’s most economically important fisheries resources.

For example, other sea-run species have responded quickly and significantly to the restoration 

efforts. Because of barrier removals within the Penobscot River, alewives and blueback herring 

(collectively referred to as river herring) that were once constrained to the lower 30 miles 

of the Penobscot River have now been observed more than 130 miles upstream from sea. 

Before the dams were removed, annual returns of river herring numbered around 1,000. Just 

three years after dam removal more than 1.8 million river herring returned to the Penobscot 

River. In addition, the American shad, a very popular sport fish, and the federally endangered 

shortnose sturgeon have also responded to dam removals and fish passage improvements. 

Before 2011, both were constrained to the lower 30 miles of the river. However, in 2016, 

following dam removals and improved passage at dams, shortnose sturgeon were observed 

using their historic habitat for the first time in over 100 years. Furthermore, more than 7,000 

American shad were observed passing through a new state of the art fishway at what is now the 

lowermost dam in the Penobscot and were observed up to 70 miles upstream from the sea. For 

the first time since people can remember, anglers are once again seeking out American shad as 

a viable sport fish in the Penobscot River.

In addition to the ecological role that river herring and shad play, they are also an integral part 

of Maine’s economy. River herring and American eel, that are both benefiting from dam removal 

and fish passage improvements, are great examples of how sea-run fish play a vital role in 

Maine’s economy. River herring are a very important commercial species in Maine as they are 

the most sought after and desired bait sources for Maine’s most profitable fishery—the lobster 

fishery. The recovery actions taken to protect Atlantic salmon have, and will continue, to provide 

considerable conservation benefits to some of Maine’s most economically important fisheries 

resources.

Credit: Betty Holmes, NEFSC/NOAA

Atlantic Salmon Gulf of Maine

Distinct Population Segment

Photo Credit: Anonymous
32 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 33

SPECIES in the SPOTLIGHT

Central California

Coast Coho
34 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 35

Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), commonly known as silver salmon, are an iconic part of 

California’s natural heritage, and their recovery will help ensure the ecological, economical, and 

recreational well-being of future generations. Central California Coast (CCC) coho salmon were first 

listed as a threatened species in 1996, and subsequently reclassified as endangered in 2005. CCC 

coho represent the southern extent of the species’ range, and recent assessments of the species’ 

status indicate they continue to be at a high risk of extinction. California’s Coastal Monitoring 

Program has continued to expand into CCC coho salmon watersheds and is providing data informing 

the NMFS Five-Year Status Reviews. Over time, these data will expand our knowledge on the status 

of CCC coho salmon and improve our understanding of the species’ viability.

Recovery Progress

Since the Species in the Spotlight initiative was launched in May 2015, substantial progress has 

been made regarding CCC coho salmon recovery efforts, including advancement of each of the 

actions in the five-year action plan. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) has 

been a vital and trusted partner in these advancements and the agencies will continue to work 

closely to recover this species and bring wild CCC coho salmon back to California’s coastal 

rivers.

The five-year action plan for CCC coho salmon outlines the following four priorities:

1.Continue and expand conservation hatchery programs to prevent extinction.

2.Continue and expand restoration and funding partnerships through implementation of priority 

recovery actions in targeted locations.

3.Restore key habitats for conservation hatchery outplanting and improve freshwater Survival of 

coho salmon.

4.Ensure adaptive management for conservation hatchery programs and restoration is informed 

by monitoring and research.

Continue and Expand Conservation Hatchery Programs to Prevent Extinction

Conservation hatchery efforts are intended to prevent extinction and improve distribution, 

abundance, and genetic diversity of populations while other recovery efforts are underway. The 

two conservation hatchery programs are the Don Clausen Warm Springs Hatchery and Coho 

Salmon Conservation Program on the Russian River in Sonoma County, California, and the 

smaller Kingfisher Flat Hatchery on Scott Creek, Santa Cruz County, California. While differing in 

size and funding, both programs were initiated in 2001 in response to severely depressed coho 

salmon abundances. Fish are collected from the wild, brought into the hatcheries, genetically 

tested, and spawned to maximize diversity and avoid inbreeding. In the hatchery, fish are raised 

to various ages, fed krill, and tagged. From April through May, phased releases of these fish into 

streams is conducted to coincide with off-shore ocean conditions. This release strategy allows 

the fish to imprint on the creek with the aim that they will return to these streams as adults so 

they can spawn naturally.

The multiagency/stakeholder Don Clausen Coho Salmon Conservation Program is realizing 

its intended goals by effectively increasing coho salmon populations in the Russian River 

through habitat restoration and advancements in hatchery practices and monitoring. Today, 

there are more observations of adult coho salmon spawning in Russian River streams than 

have been seen in two decades. Current progress includes continued coordination of the 

Technical Advisory Committee, the development of a Hatchery and Genetic Management Plan, 

new incubators that are improving egg survival, and discussions of future program expansion to 

boost populations in other Sonoma County and Mendocino County watersheds facing extirpation 

of CCC coho salmon. The success of the program is due in large part to Mr. Michael A Dillabough, 

Chief of Operations and Readiness Division, Army Corps of Engineers San Francisco District, who 

has been instrumental in advancing CCC coho salmon recovery efforts and almost two decades of 

work at the Warm Springs Hatchery. Mr. Dillabough recently received special recognition for his 

contributions and diligence in problem solving, creativity, partnerships, and outstanding leadership 

towards conservation and recovery efforts for CCC coho salmon.

In early 2016, staff from NMFS’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) and CDFW 

formed a technical team to develop plans for relocating the existing captive broodstock program 

for endangered CCC coho salmon from the existing Kingfisher Flat Hatchery to a new hatchery 

facility south of San Francisco. Although the Kingfisher Flat facility has been critical in saving the 

region’s coho salmon from extinction, the size of the facility and available water cannot support 

expansion of the conservation program to a level needed for species recovery. The technical 

team is refining the hatchery production goals needed for recovery and identifying the water 

resource needs for a new facility to achieve those production goals. The team is meeting with 

local landowners and partners to review and evaluate alternative locations for the new facility. 

The CCC coho salmon Species in the Spotlight hero, Dr. Brian Dietterick, has been instrumental 

in these discussions. The team will soon begin work on a Project Work Plan that will be needed 

to inform future feasibility studies and designs. Securing funding for construction, equipment, 

and operations will continue to be a primary focus of the technical group.

Central California

Coast Coho

Photo Credit: Rosalind Alley Santa Cruz, CA
36 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 37

Continue and Expand Restoration and Funding Partnerships through Implementation of Priority 

Recovery Actions in Targeted Locations

The state’s Fisheries Restoration Grant Program, funded in part by the Pacific Coastal Salmonid 

Recovery Fund (PCSRF), supports restoration projects that align with recovery actions identified 

in State and Federal recovery plans. NMFS and CDFW work together each year to develop and 

revise a “Focused” restoration strategy. The restoration blueprint builds directly from the CDFW 

2004 Coho Salmon Recovery Strategy, NMFS 2012 CCC Coho Recovery Plan, and NMFS 2016 

Multi-Species Recovery Plan (which includes CCC, Northern California Steelhead, and California 

Coastal Chinook Salmon). In accordance with the PCSRF Federal Funding Opportunity, these 

funds are focused on projects and activities benefiting ESA-listed populations and addressing 

the limiting factors and priority actions specified in these recovery plans.

CDFW has embraced the Species in the Spotlight initiative and is seeking ways to prioritize funding 

for CCC coho salmon actions. One example includes a NMFS and CDFW “Priority Action Coho 

Team” (PACT) who have assembled State and Federal recovery plan priorities and developed a 

shared vision of recovery. PACT is designed to relay information to recovery partners regarding 

conservation hatchery objectives, water conservation needs, regulatory streamlining opportunities, 

habitat restoration priorities, and outreach and education opportunities.

The Highway 1 Bridge over Scott Creek in northern Santa Cruz County is nearing the end of its 

serviceable life and needs replacement. The Scott Creek floodplain, lagoon, and outlet to the 

Pacific Ocean were dramatically altered when the bridge was built in 1936. The alterations have 

resulted in degradation to highflow refugia and marsh plain habitats. The degradation of habitat 

has impacted survival and fitness of wild and broodstock CCC coho salmon in Scott Creek. 

Replacement of the Highway 1 Bridge, to include restoration of the marsh-lagoon complex 

of Scott Creek, is the highest recovery priority in the Santa Cruz area. Currently a technical 

advisory team, led by the Santa Cruz County Resources Conservation District, has secured 

grant funding from the California Coastal Conservancy and the Wildlife Conservation Board that 

will be used to complete all necessary technical studies and develop designs for the lagoon 

restoration. This work is anticipated to be conducted throughout 2017 and into 2018.

The Garcia River watershed is comprised almost entirely of agricultural and timber lands with 

many acres federally owned or under protected easements. A high-priority recovery action is the 

restoration of estuarine and floodplain habitats that can influence survival and fitness of salmon 

at population-level scales. Progress to date includes the formation of a multiagency/stakeholder 

Garcia Technical Advisory Committee, which is completing a Garcia River Estuary Enhancement 

Plan in 2017. The plan will cover the estuary and include shovel-ready projects on land owned 

by the Bureau of Land Management in the lower estuary.

The NMFS/The Nature Conservancy (TNC) partnership focuses on protecting and restoring the 

71,000-acre Ten Mile River watershed (Mendocino County), and enjoys the support of four 

state agencies, private timber interests and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. To date, TNC and 

its partners have permanently protected 3,800-acres—nearly all the land surrounding the Ten 

Mile River Estuary—using a novel form of working lands conservation easement. Compatible 

forestry, low-intensity agriculture, and sustainable cattle grazing under the easement are 

now fully integrated with a TNC/NMFS-led habitat restoration program, focused on restoring 

degraded floodplains and estuaries. Restoring these environments, where juvenile fish rear, 

is key to leveraging previous investments to restore the upper watershed, and could serve 

as a recovery model for other rivers. A $1.5 million-dollar grant from the California Fisheries 

Restoration Grant Program (funded by PCSRF) was recently awarded to TNC to restore critical 

over-wintering habitat for CCC coho. The award is being matched by $1.5 million dollars in 

private donations secured by TNC. Four estuary and floodplain habitat enhancements will be 

created in 2018 using the Fisheries Restoration Grant Program/PCSRF funds. The effectiveness 

of these enhancements will be measured by TNC’s scientists and natural resource managers 

using private funds.

TNC and NMFS’ Ten Mile River work has led to an exciting opportunity to protect the entire 

Ten Mile River watershed—from reef to ridge. Working with Lyme Timber Company (a 

conservation-oriented timber investor), TNC is now developing a 64,000-acre working forest 

conservation easement that will keep the uplands as sustainably managed working forest in 

perpetuity while also establishing an 18,000-acre “Riparian Reserve Zone” where the forest 

is managed and restored to a healthier and more resilient condition. The Lyme/TNC working 

conservation easement will, if finalized this summer, integrate compatible land management 

and science-based restoration to accelerate the recovery of CCC coho salmon and other listed 

anadromous salmonids in the watershed.

In January of 2014, the Governor of California proclaimed a state of emergency due to drought 

conditions. In response, NMFS and CDFW developed the Voluntary Drought Initiative Program. 

The purpose of the program is to provide incentives to water users in high priority watersheds 

throughout the State to reduce the negative effects of the drought on salmon and steelhead. 

To date, 116 agreements have been signed in the Russian River tributaries. Streamflow gaging 

records within the region show measurable improvement in drought conditions for coho salmon 

within portions of streams covered by the flow augmentation agreements. Finally, two projects 

Central California

Coast Coho

Photo Credit: Morgan Bond/NOAA
38 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 39

within the NOAA Russian River Habitat Blueprint have a direct link to Species in the Spotlight 

actions. These include the Russian River Focus Area Tributary and Estuary Habitat projects, 

which are designed to inform streamflow and estuarine habitat restoration projects.

Restore Key Habitats for Conservation Hatchery Outplanting and Improve Freshwater Survival of 

Coho Salmon

Strategically focused restoration is needed in areas where conservation hatchery broodstock 

outplanting is conducted or forecasted. Many of these are located on private land (e.g., 

agriculture, timber operations, etc.). Outreach to these landowners and assistance with project 

design and permitting has improved the ability to restore key habitats in strategic locations.

A Lower Scotts Creek Floodplain and Habitat Enhancement Project has been underway since 

2014. This work has increased habitat complexity and floodplain connectivity along 4,500 feet of 

the lower mainstem of Scotts Creek (the stream used for outplanting of Kingfisher Flat hatchery 

coho salmon). A total of 13 instream large wood complexes have been installed, portions of 

the deteriorating legacy levee system removed, new alcove habitat features were created, and 

the connection between Scotts Creek mainstem and existing off-channel habitat features and a 

small tributary was enhanced. The last phase of this project is planned for 2017.

The San Vicente Creek Large Wood Habitat Enhancement Project will be implemented in 

2017 and will consist of cutting and dropping 48 standing redwood trees into the San Vicente 

Creek. The addition of the large wood in the channel and on the floodplain will form complex 

instream habitat features critical for the overwinter survival of young coho salmon. The wood 

in the channel will also help facilitate better alluvium sorting and trapping. Both of the above 

projects have developed robust monitoring programs to evaluate the effectiveness and are being 

monitored by NMFS’ Southwest Fisheries Science Center.

Several other recently completed restoration actions in historic coho salmon populations of the 

Santa Cruz Mountains include: (1) Large wood installation in the mainstem of San Gregorio and 

Pescadero creeks (summer 2016); (2) Removal of a long-standing migration impediment in 

Pescadero Creek at San Mateo Memorial Park (fall 2015); (3) Installation of instream and riparian 

habitat enhancement features within approximately 1,300 feet of Soquel Creek (summer-fall 2015); 

(4) Instream channel and floodplain connectivity project was completed in lower Butano Creek, 

Pescadero watershed (fall 2016); and (5) Development of a Scope of Work for improved fish 

passage and flow conveyance in lower Butano Creek and Pescadero Marsh (current).

For all of these projects, NMFS has worked closely with its state and local partners, particularly 

CalPoly and both the San Mateo and Santa Cruz County Resource Conservation Districts. Nearly all of 

these restoration actions were covered under existing restoration-based programmatic consultations.

In 2016, NMFS completed its first Safe Harbor Agreement in the country in the Russian River 

tributary, Dry Creek. The agreement creates a new model for endangered species conservation 

and recovery by engaging the support of landowners who are critical to recovery, while also 

providing assurances that they will not face new restrictions on their land because of their good 

stewardship practices. The assurances create an environment for collaborative conservation, 

building on local knowledge and innovation to inspire on-the-ground action. The partnership 

among NMFS, the U.S. Corps of Engineers, Sonoma County Water Agency, CDFW, and private 

landowners in the Dry Creek Valley will support the recovery of endangered coho salmon, and 

threatened Chinook salmon and steelhead.

Ensure Adaptive Management for Conservation Hatchery Programs and Restoration is Informed 

by Monitoring and Research 

Monitoring and research have provided critical information used to adapt conservation hatchery 

practices, broodstock release strategies, and restoration work. They also provide needed information 

on status, trends, conservation, and recovery of coho salmon. Progress to date includes:

• More than 106,000 coho salmon smolts have been released from the Kingfisher Flat Scott Creek 

captive rearing program between 2013 and 2017.

• Completion of five-year viability assessment (SWFSC) and five-year status review (NMFS West 

Coast Region California Coastal Office).

• Continued and expanded monitoring of CCC coho salmon populations throughout the ESU in 

coordination with CDFW.

• An increase in the number of watersheds south of the Golden Gate used by CCC coho salmon 

which includes successful reproduction in five recovery watersheds due to conservation hatchery efforts: Waddell Creek, Scott Creek, San Vicente Creek, Laguna Creek, and Soquel Creek.

• Improvements to broodstock management including rigorous spawning matrix used for 

hatchery matings resulting in improved genetic diversity, and outplanting of various life stages to 

watersheds where local populations had been extirpated (Walker, Salmon, San Vicente creeks).

Central California

Coast Coho

Photo Credit: Marilyn Stubbs/NOAA
40 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 41

Dr. Brian Dietterick is the director of the California 

Polytechnic State University Swanton Pacific Ranch 

and a watershed hydrologist by training. The Ranch, 

located in the Scott Creek watershed of Santa Cruz 

County, California, is a CalPoly educational facility and 

home to the southern-most extant population of coho 

salmon. Over the last decade, Dr. Dietterick and his 

staff and students have strengthened and diversified 

the recovery efforts for CCC coho salmon and provided 

critical support for NMFS and other resource partners. 

They have collected and shared data in support of 

the CCC coho salmon federal recovery plan, hosted meetings and field tours for the Scott 

Creek Lagoon restoration project, conducted high priority, multi-year restoration projects in 

Scott Creek to restore habitat complexity and floodplain connectivity, and provided access to 

habitat on the Ranch so that scientists could calibrate regional estimates of coho salmon. Dr. 

Dietterick has been a leading voice in discussions regarding the possible construction of a new 

conservation hatchery for CCC coho salmon. The watersheds in the Santa Cruz Mountains are 

primarily comprised of private landowners, and Dr. Dietterick has been a vital connection to this 

important constituency.

Scott Creek is the front line for preserving CCC coho salmon south of San Francisco Bay. The 

successful recovery of these populations will require forging and maintaining partnerships 

that use sustainable management approaches in these working landscapes; values that Dr. 

Dietterick and his staff at Swanton Pacific Ranch practice and teach. Dr. Dietterick is a dedicated 

leader CCC coho salmon conservation who connects his colleagues, staff, and graduate and 

undergraduate students with unparalleled opportunities for CCC coho salmon conservation, 

education, and habitat restoration in the name of species recovery.

Central California Coast 

Coho Spotlight Hero 

Dr. Brian Dietterick

Summary

The 2015 launch of the Species in the Spotlight initiative for CCC coho salmon came during the 

worst drought on record in California. California experienced well below average precipitation 

from 2012 through 2015, record high surface air temperatures in 2014 and 2015, and record 

low snowpack in 2015. Some paleoclimate reconstructions suggest that this recent drought was 

the most extreme in the past 500 or perhaps more than 1,000 years. These drought conditions 

ended abruptly with a series of unrelenting storms and an extremely wet 2016–2017 winter. 

On the positive side, those storms restored stream flows and off-channel habitats. On the 

negative side, they destroyed coho spawning beds. Despite poor environmental conditions, CCC 

coho salmon persist due to the concerted and coordinated restoration and hatchery efforts of 

stakeholders, agency partners and non-profit organizations who have a keen interest in coho 

salmon recovery.

The Species in the Spotlight initiative has helped leverage funds for restoration and 

conservation, brought new partners to coho salmon recovery, energized state and federal 

collaborations, and affirmed the hard work of dedicated individuals who are involved every day 

in these conservation hatchery and restoration programs.

Photo Credit: Steve Auten, CalPoly

Central California

Coast Coho

Photo Credit: NMFS SWFSC
42 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 43

SPECIES in the SPOTLIGHT

Cook Inlet Beluga Whales
44 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 45

The endangered Cook Inlet beluga whale (Delphinapterus leucas) has been in decline since 

1979. Where once there were an estimated 1,300 of these white whales adjacent to Alaska’s 

most populous region, only an estimated 328 remain. The rapid decline and dire status of the 

Cook Inlet beluga whale population makes it a priority for NMFS and our partners to prevent 

extinction and promote recovery of this iconic species. The majority of the decline resulted 

from unregulated subsistence hunting, but almost 20 years after the hunting was greatly 

curtailed, and a decade since the last beluga was hunted in Cook Inlet, the population has failed 

to increase in numbers. The reasons of why the population has not made a comeback are 

unknown.

Recovery Progress

A main purpose of the overall Species in the Spotlight initiative is to garner public support for 

recovering highly endangered species. In the case of Cook Inlet beluga whales, NMFS relies 

heavily on its many partners to advance this effort. To kick off our efforts for the Cook Inlet 

beluga as a Species in the Spotlight, NMFS held the “Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Management, 

Research, and Partnership Opportunities” workshop at the 2017 Alaska Marine Science 

Symposium in Anchorage. That session educated the public about recent management and 

research efforts specific to Cook Inlet beluga whales, and solicited partnerships for future 

recovery activities. The most successful partnership outcome from that session has been the 

development of a committee of 20 partners (so far) to organize a community-based outreach 

event called “Belugas Count!” The main event was held September 9, 2017, at the Alaska Zoo 

with viewing and information stations throughout upper Cook Inlet to catch the morning high 

tide when belugas are more likely to be visible near shore. The “Belugas Count!” event was free 

to the public and included talks and activities about Cook Inlet belugas. While this initial event 

introduced the public to the plight of Cook Inlet belugas and how citizens can help, the goal 

is to host an annual event that will include a citizen count of belugas throughout Cook Inlet. 

In anticipation of this event, and other opportunistic outreach events (e.g., air, boating, and 

sportsmen trade shows), we are developing new Cook Inlet beluga whale outreach materials. 

Materials include a tri-fold informational brochure; elementary school-level curricula about Cook 

Inlet beluga whales; bookmarks with viewing guidelines for pilots with a slogan “Stay High and 

Fly By”. We are encouraging reporting of stranded Cook Inlet beluga whales, and publishing 

stories in local newspapers, radio stations and in the Alaska Airmen’s Association to educate 

readers about how they can avoid potential harassment of belugas and help us enhance our 

response to stranded whales.

Since the launch of the Species in the Spotlight initiative in May 2015, these partnerships have 

advanced implementation of the five-year action plan for the Cook Inlet beluga whale. The action 

plan focuses on five critical areas to improve conservation efforts:

1.Reduce the threat of anthropogenic noise in Cook Inlet beluga whale habitat.

2.Protect habitats that support foraging or reproduction of Cook Inlet beluga whales.

3.Gain a better understanding of population characteristics of Cook Inlet beluga whales to 

ensure effective management actions result in recovery.

4.Ensure healthy and plentiful prey are available.

5.Improve understanding of why Cook Inlet beluga Whales are not recovering by enhancing the 

stranding response program.

Reduce the Threat of Anthropogenic Noise in Cook Inlet Beluga Whale Habitat

Despite their proximity to Anchorage and nearby cities, Cook Inlet beluga whales are a very 

difficult species to study. The extraordinarily silty water they live in makes them invisible except 

for the portions of their bodies that break the surface of the water. Thirty-foot tides, the highest 

in the United States, and miles-wide mudflats make boating extremely dangerous. For about half 

the year, belugas dwell among large chunks of ice that tides wash back and forth at the speed of 

a fit jogger; ice chunks that are big enough to sink a boat. While the harsh conditions may help 

protect Cook Inlet belugas from killer whales, this dynamic environment severely hinders our 

ability to understand what may be limiting their recovery.

The turbid waters also limit the whales’ ability to see their food and each other. Instead, they see 

their world through sound, as bats do. Their reliance upon echolocation makes noise pollution 

in Cook Inlet a potentially serious problem. Cook Inlet is a naturally noisy environment at times, 

given the hiss of glacial silt in the water, the rushing tides moving rubble around on the bottom, 

and the cracks and rumbles of shifting ice during much of the year. Although belugas in Cook 

Inlet live in an area where vision is severely limited and the habitat is naturally noisy, they have 

managed to adapt to these conditions. What they have perhaps not adapted to as well is humancaused noise from activities such as pile driving, seismic exploration, oil and gas rigs, ship 

traffic, and military operations.

NMFS, other agencies, and industry partners are continually seeking ways to quiet the belugas’ 

soundscape. Minimizing the presence of industrial noise in the waters within 10 miles of 

Cook Inlet Beluga Whales

Photo Credit: LGL Alaska Research Associates
46 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 47

especially important habitat around the Susitna River Delta is one such measure. The Port of 

Anchorage has also gone to great effort to test technologies like confined bubble curtains and 

sonic resonators to reduce the amount of in-water noise from pile driving activities.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), working closely with NMFS, deploys 

passive acoustic recorders around key locations in Cook Inlet to better understand noise in 

these waters and its potential effects on belugas. These instruments listen to and record sound 

all year long. They provide information that we need to understand the relative importance of 

different parts of Cook Inlet to belugas throughout the year, and the degree to which these areas 

are acoustically impacted by humans. Having information about both natural and human-caused 

noise levels in beluga habitat can improve our understanding of how noise affects belugas 

and their use of habitat near industrialized areas. This knowledge will better inform effective 

management and conservation actions.

Protect Habitats that Support Foraging or Reproduction of Cook Inlet Beluga Whales

Directly across Cook Inlet from Anchorage lies the Susitna River Delta, which appears to 

function as the very core of essential habitat for these whales. While it is important that these 

belugas have access to many runs of fish throughout the year at different locations, the 

Susitna’s runs of salmon and eulachon (also called hooligan or candlefish) are the belugas’ main 

food source. And the Susitna River Delta is important for other aspects of beluga life history 

besides feeding.

On a summer day in 2015, biologist Dr. Tamara McGuire, LGL Alaska Research Associates, 

Inc., and her skipper, Brad Goetz (also a fifth grade teacher and Bristol Bay salmon fisherman) 

were conducting photographic identification work on belugas in the Susitna River Delta area. 

These photographs would later be matched to other images of whales from past years to help 

track an individual whale’s movements and behaviors over time, leading to insights about the 

entire population. On that day, they were approached by the largest group of belugas either of 

them had ever seen, perhaps 75 percent of the entire population, all in one group. While Tamara 

was photographing as many individuals as she could, Brad noticed one lone female off to the 

side behaving oddly, like a log floating at the surface. Other whales approached the logging 

female and began splashing and behaving excitedly. A few minutes later, a wrinkled newborn 

calf bobbed to the surface. But the newborn was listing to one side and not moving. Other 

whales slapped at it, and after several minutes and a few more slaps, the newborn calf finally 

righted itself and began to swim and breathe normally. And so it was there amidst the valuable 

feeding habitat of the Susitna River Delta that the first live birth of a Cook Inlet beluga whale 

was documented. Information such as this which highlights the importance of the Susitna River 

Delta region to Cook Inlet belugas for both foraging and reproduction have led to this sensitive 

area receiving special consideration and protection during ESA section 7 consultations.

Although we have a good understanding of areas important to Cook Inlet belugas in the 

summer, we currently know little about their winter habits. In an attempt to better document 

beluga distribution and habitat use throughout Cook Inlet during non-summer months, NMFS 

is partnering with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) to implement winter aerial 

surveys from 2018–2020. This information will also benefit BOEM as that agency prepares for 

upcoming oil and gas lease sales in Cook Inlet.

Gain a Better Understanding of Population Characteristics of Cook Inlet Beluga Whales to 

Ensure Effective Management Actions Result in Recovery

Our best range-wide population monitoring information for Cook Inlet belugas comes from 

aerial surveys conducted by the NMFS Marine Mammal Laboratory since 1993, typically in 

the month of June. These surveys, which are now conducted every other year, estimate the 

abundance of Cook Inlet belugas throughout their range. The population estimate is corrected 

for diving animals and observer efficiency. Continuation of this survey, or some variation on it, 

is our only way to accurately assess population trends over time and the overall status of this 

species.

For the past several years, NMFS has also supported a partner-led, non-invasive photo-ID 

research of Cook Inlet belugas from spring to fall. Images collected from long-term beluga 

observations provided by private contractors, Department of Defense Joint Base ElmendorfRichardson biologists, and the public are compiled into the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale PhotoIdentification Project’s catalog. The data obtained from this long-term non-invasive study have 

provided vital individual-based information to managers, especially in regards to individual 

survival and reproductive history. Continuing this effort into the future is essential for increasing 

our knowledge of this cryptic species. This study directly addresses the five-year action plan 

goal of better understanding beluga population characteristics.

Another route to better understanding what is keeping belugas from recovering is to understand 

their physiology and body condition. Because these belugas are so few in number, researchers 

remain cautious about capturing animals to conduct examinations, which can be stressful 

for the whales. Instead, beginning in 2016 NMFS partnered with the Cook Inlet Beluga Whale 

Photo-Identification Project, Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, and the Group for Research 

and Education of Marine Mammals to obtain biopsy samples from the whales. Sophisticated 

analysis of these tiny plugs of skin and blubber can provide insights into genetics, reproductive 

Photo Credit: LGL Alaska Research Associates

Cook Inlet Beluga Whales
48 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 49

The Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson (JBER), 

Environmental Element, Natural Resources Section’s 

Cook Inlet Beluga (CIB) conservation program, 

especially team members Chris Garner (in photo), 

Christie Osburn, and Richard Graham epitomizes 

the cooperative spirit of the NMFS Species in the 

Spotlight initiative. The program proactively conducts beluga research and conservation 

activities (many of which address priority actions identified in the five-year action plan), and 

the program consistently partners, collaborates, and assists with other programs towards 

the goal of recovering the endangered CIB whale. Their innovative monitoring techniques, 

long-term monitoring efforts, and data on belugas’ responses to noise, have provided NMFS 

managers with invaluable information on the anthropogenic influences on the population as 

well as important population characteristics. The program also took proactive steps in 2016 

to help ensure healthy and plentiful prey for the whales by eradicating predatory northern 

pike in salmon-bearing waterways on JBER lands. Furthermore, the program and its team 

have contributed resources and staff for numerous other beluga projects, including: assisting 

the stranding response program; organizing trainings for other beluga researchers to access 

military lands; partnering with the CIB acoustics group; sharing data with the CIB Photo-ID 

Project and NMFS’s CIB Scientific Sightings Mapper; and contributing resources to the 2016 CIB 

Biopsy Feasibility Study.

Cook Inlet Beluga Whales

Spotlight Hero Chris 

Garner, Christie Osburn, 

and Richard Graham

status, contaminant loads, and other important parameters. NMFS will likely continue to 

obtain and analyze these biopsy samples to provide insights into beluga biology that cannot 

be obtained by any other minimally invasive technique. In 2017, NMFS is also planning to use 

small unmanned aircraft to collect very detailed aerial imagery of beluga whales in the hopes 

that the images can be used to assess beluga whale body condition, health, and add to the 

existing photo-ID catalog.

Ensure Healthy and Plentiful Prey are Available Prey

The reason the Cook Inlet beluga population remains suppressed must have to do with the fact 

that either they are not reproducing fast enough or their survival rates are too low, or both. The 

availability of sufficient food could affect either of these factors. Especially important to belugas 

are the early eulachon runs, affording them their first opportunity to gorge on high calorie 

fish after a long and lean Cook Inlet winter. NMFS has supported the ADF&G efforts to assess 

eulachon biomass in the Susitna River. ADF&G conducted a field study in spring 2016, and 

their results will help determine if eulachon remain abundant. NMFS has also initiated a study to 

assess the health of beluga prey in Cook Inlet, with emphasis on resident fish. Partnering with 

staff from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, we are collecting fish and water samples from 

various locations in upper Cook Inlet to analyze for various contaminants. The fish will be tested 

for approximately 150 different contaminants of emerging concern.

Improve Understanding of Why Cook Inlet Beluga Whales are not Recovering by Enhancing the 

Stranding Response Program

Scientists sample dead Cook Inlet beluga whales as a way of searching for clues regarding their 

lack of recovery. One thing has become clear from these efforts: in order to get the biological 

information we need from these dead whales, we need to get to them before the process of 

decay has become advanced. To this end, NMFS is redoubling its efforts to inform area pilots 

and members of the public to quickly report sightings of dead (or live-stranded) animals so 

ground crews can respond rapidly. We have also distributed stranding response kits to specially 

trained partners, giving them the tools to conduct good field examinations of beluga carcasses. 

We are also pursuing arrangements to make aircraft available to us on short notice to allow 

access to stranded whales along those portions of Cook Inlet that are not road accessible, which 

describes the majority of Cook Inlet’s shoreline. Our stranding response program has improved 

and is continuing to improve, as per the five-year action plan. We expect additional insights into 

the causes of beluga deaths and population health as a result.

Summary

Good progress is being made towards engaging partners who can improve our understanding of 

Cook Inlet beluga whales and help them to recover. We are also improving our communication 

with key groups in the region that are well positioned to help avoid beluga harassment. 

Additional research to identify critical factors limiting the Cook Inlet beluga population is vital to 

recovery. Continuing to shine a spotlight on this endangered species can only help us succeed, 

whereas neglecting to push forward could well result in the loss of this irreplaceable species 

that is so important to tourism and to local residents, including the Native subsistence hunters 

that hope to reincorporate a sustainable harvest of this once abundant whale back into their 

culture.

Photo Credit: U.S. Air Force--Airman 1st Class Kyle Johnson

Cook Inlet Beluga Whales
50 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 51

SPECIES in the SPOTLIGHT

Hawaiian Monk Seal
52 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 53

The Hawaiian monk seal (Neomonachus schauinslandi) is the world’s only surviving tropical 

seal species. Hawaiian monk seals are endemic to the Hawaiian Archipelago, which stretches 

1,500 miles from Hawaii Island to Kure Atoll. There are only about 1,400 Hawaiian monk seals 

left in the world. While recent population assessments have yielded some encouraging results, 

the predominant trend has been a steep population decline since the 1950s.

Recovery Progress

Since the launch of the Species in the Spotlight initiative in May 2015, we have been working 

with our partners to implement a five-year action plan for Hawaiian monk seals. The five-year 

action plan lays out five key actions intended to provide significant recovery benefit to monk 

seals along with increased collaboration with partners:

1.Improve survival of juvenile and adult female seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.

2.Manage and mitigate human-seal interactions to ensure natural population growth, minimize 

conflict, and foster coexistence.

3.Detect and prevent catastrophic disease outbreak and disease-related mortality.

4.Develop and implement strategic communications plan and social marketing strategy.

5.Encourage community-led monk seal stewardship and citizen science.

Improve Survival of Juvenile and Adult Female Seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

The 2016 annual population assessment showed that Hawaiian monk seals have increased in 

numbers by about 3 percent annually since 2013, reversing a multi-decade trend of population 

decline. The population is now estimated to be around 1,400 seals, with about 1,100 of 

those seals in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands (NWHI). This represents a significant shift 

over previous years when the main Hawaiian Islands (MHI) population, although smaller 

overall, was growing and the number in the NWHI was declining—the recent growth trend 

is primarily due to increased juvenile survival in the NWHI and stability or growth of the six 

NWHI subpopulations. Rapid growth trends in the MHI subpopulation appear to have slowed or 

stopped, and the number of recorded births in the MHI as well as overall population numbers 

have remained stable since 2013.

The species was in decline for over six decades and current numbers are still only about onethird of historic population levels. A slowed rate of decline leading up to the recent population 

increase is due in many ways to NMFS’ recovery efforts. In fact, an estimated 30 percent of 

the seals alive today are here because they benefited from a lifesaving intervention performed 

by NMFS, such as disentanglement or de-hooking. A total of 78 interventions to improve 

individual seals’ survival prospects were performed in 2015–2016 in the NWHI. These included 

translocation of 28 pups from high shark predation risk areas to lower risk sites within French 

Frigate Shoals atoll, releasing 18 seals entangled in marine debris and five seals trapped 

behind the Tern Island sea wall, and 19 miscellaneous interventions, including a monk seal 

world first—removal of an eel from a juvenile seal’s nasal passage. Additionally, since its 

opening in 2014, nineteen malnourished seals have been taken from the NWHI to The Marine 

Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola facility on Hawaii Island, which is dedicated solely to monk seal 

rehabilitation. As of March 2017, 15 seals have been successfully rehabilitated and released, 

and four more are currently being fattened-up and awaiting their summer 2017 return home 

to the NWHI. As a result, this year’s Species in the Spotlight hero for monk seals is the Marine 

Mammal Center’s Ke Kai Ola facility.

Manage and Mitigate Human-Seal Interactions to Ensure Natural Population Growth, Minimize 

Conflict, and Foster Coexistence 

Monk seals were essentially extirpated from the MHI for many years, although in recent 

decades they successfully reestablished a small but thriving population. While this is a hopeful 

sign for recovery of the species, a human population unfamiliar with seals has resulted in 

negative human-seal interactions such as harassment of seal hauled out on beaches, hookings, 

intentional killing, and more. There has been a noticeable shift in public attitude towards the 

positive in recent years, due partially to the fact that seals have now been in the MHI long 

enough that residents are getting used to their presence and younger generations on islands 

with larger seal populations are growing up seeing them on a regular basis. The shift is also 

due in part to the work of NOAA, our partners, and community members sharing information, 

educating the public, and engaging with local community encouraging coexistence.

While attitudes are shifting and NOAA and partners have a strong presence in the community, 

there are still occasional interactions that could be detrimental to individual seals and/or 

the population as whole. We continue to work with local fishermen and available data on 

recreational fishing to attempt to understand the nature of hooking risk across the MHI and 

develop appropriate placed-based and audience-based solutions. Behavior modification 

protocols to keep seals away from areas where their safety or the safety of humans could be 

in danger, such as certain heavily crowded beaches, were approved and were in early stages 

of testing in 2016, primarily on the island of Kauai. Removal of fishing hooks and/or fishing 

line was performed on nine seals in 2016 alone, and all nine seals survived. Seven seals were 

treated for miscellaneous existing or potential injuries/illnesses in 2016 including one abscess, 

Hawaiian Monk Seal

Photo Credit: Tracy Mercer, 2013
54 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 55

one dog bite, antibiotics to prevent infection post-de-hooking, and one instance of ventral 

wounds from an unknown source.

Detect and Prevent Catastrophic Disease Outbreak and Disease-Related Mortality

Infectious disease is a risk to all wildlife populations, but not all infectious diseases are the 

same. Currently our program is focusing on two diseases that are very different, but both carry 

serious potential consequences for monk seals: morbillivirus and toxoplasmosis.

Morbillivirus is widespread and outbreaks of the disease have caused the deaths of thousands 

of dolphins and seals around the world, including the northeast coast of the United States. 

This family of viruses includes measles, which human children are immunized against, and 

distemper, which is part of a core vaccination series for pet dogs. The disease has not yet been 

documented in monk seals in Hawaii, but could potentially be contracted from unvaccinated 

dogs or from other marine mammals such as whales and dolphins. Once introduced into the 

small population of monk seals, an outbreak could set back recovery efforts for decades, or 

eliminate hope for the species altogether.

In February 2016, after years of investigation and safety and effectiveness trials, NMFS began 

vaccinating wild monk seals. Our goal was to achieve “herd immunity” on Oahu and Kauai by 

October 2016, when the current supply of vaccines was due to expire, by vaccinating a large 

enough percentage of the population to prevent an outbreak. Modeling results indicate that the 

herd immunity goal was achieved on Oahu, with full vaccination of 21 seals, and on Kauai, with 

18 seals fully vaccinated. We were also able to vaccinate three seals on Molokai, and seven 

seals undergoing rehabilitation at the Ke Kai Ola facility were vaccinated prior to their April 2016 

release.

A new batch of 1,660 vaccines arrived in March 2017, and we plan to expand our efforts into 

the NWHI, as well as continue efforts in the MHI by vaccinating new pups on Oahu and Kauai, 

vaccinating any adults that may have been missed during the first round, and achieve greater 

coverage on Molokai. This is the first ever effort to vaccinate a wild marine mammal species, 

and NOAA hopes this will lay the foundation for future efforts to vaccinate marine wildlife 

against preventable diseases and safeguard populations against potentially devastating losses.

Feral, abandoned, and other outdoor cats (also called “at-large”cats) have substantial, 

documented negative impacts on wildlife and are responsible for numerous mammal, reptile, 

and bird species extinctions. Cats function as vectors for several diseases, some of which have 

deleterious effects on human, wildlife, and domestic animal health. Cats are the sole definitive 

hosts of the protozoal parasite Toxoplasma gondii, which spreads when the cat sheds the 

oocysts (eggs) in their feces.

Feral cats and toxoplasmosis have long been known as threats to terrestrial species, but in 

recent years, it has become apparent that toxoplasmosis also poses a major threat to marine 

mammals, most notably the endangered Hawaiian monk seal. While all cats have the potential 

to carry the disease, indoor pet cats are much less likely to spread the disease as long as their 

litter is properly disposed of. Feral cats in particular are thought to be the primary vectors of the 

disease in Hawaii.

On the island of Oahu alone, there are an estimated 50,000–300,000 feral cats. Since 2001, 

there have been a minimum of eight monk seal deaths attributable to toxoplasmosis in the 

Hawaiian Islands, including at least three since April 2014. An additional two deaths are 

suspected, and these numbers are likely a significant underestimate as NMFS is unable to 

recover every monk seal carcass, and, of those we do recover, some have decomposed beyond 

the point where identification of diseases like toxoplasmosis is possible.

NMFS staff from the Pacific Islands Regional Office and Fisheries Science Center, in 

collaboration with the Department of Land and Natural Resources Division of Aquatic 

Resources, convened a workshop in May 2016 that included representatives from state and 

federal agencies. The goals of the workshop were to learn about the impacts of toxoplasmosis 

and feral cats on wildlife and human health, discuss solutions, and focus on implementing next 

steps to reduce the negative impacts of toxoplasmosis. One of the outcomes was the creation of 

an interagency working group—the Toxoplasmosis and At-large Cat Technical Working Group 

(TACTWG)—consisting of federal, state, and county agencies committed to sharing information 

and resources to reduce the impacts of feral, abandoned, and outdoor cats. This working group 

continues to grow and develop, reaching out to potential partner agencies, engaging with 

stakeholders, discussing community outreach messaging, initiating literature reviews to better 

understand proposed solutions to the problem, and organizing symposia at local conservation 

conferences among other actions.

Encourage Community-led Monk Seal Stewardship and Citizen Science

NMFS’ community engagement and monk seal monitoring efforts are cornerstones of 

our recovery program, and they dovetail in the form of a dedicated network of volunteers. 

Volunteers across the islands work with various partner agencies and organizations to 

report seal sightings and observe seals on local beaches. Volunteers also spend many hours 

answering questions and educating visitors and community members about the Hawaiian monk 

seal. NOAA Fisheries and partners maintain a seal reporting “hotline” and coordinate a network 

of partners, staff, and volunteers throughout the MHI that responded to more than 7,000 reports 

of monk seal sightings, haul-outs, and other incidents in 2016.

Photo Credit: Jason Jones, 2010

Hawaiian Monk Seal
56 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 57

Since opening in 2014, The Marine Mammal Center’s 

Ke Kai Ola facility has played a critical role in Hawaiian 

monk seal recovery. The hospital is unique in that it is 

entirely dedicated to rehabilitating Hawaii’s endemic 

and endangered seal. The Marine Mammal Center has 

been a valuable partner for many years—decades of 

experience rehabilitating pinnipeds in California—and 

with the opening of the Hawaii Island facility, rehabilitation has become an option for more 

seals and opened a new chapter in monk seal conservation and recovery. A total of fifteen 

malnourished seals have been successfully rehabilitated and returned to their homes, and four 

more are currently being fattened- up and awaiting their winter 2017 release to the NWHI. Monk 

seal rehabilitation presents its own unique set of challenges, which Ke Kai Ola’s staff has faced 

with tireless dedication. With a total population of just 1,400 animals, these rehabilitated seals 

play an invaluable role in maintaining, and hopefully building, population numbers in the NWHI. 

Without Ke Kai Ola, many of these seals had virtually no chance of survival, and in only a few 

short years, Ke Kai Ola has rehabilitated about 1 percent of the total population. In addition to 

the role Ke Kai Ola has played in rehabilitation, they have also contributed resources and staff 

for numerous other Hawaiian monk seal projects, including participating in stranding response 

activities that occur on the island of Hawaii and neighboring islands, engaging communities 

through outreach on the beach and in the classroom, helping with the initial stages of the 

morbilivirus vaccination program, and contributing to the long- term monk seal specimen 

archive. The Ke Kai Ola staff is dedicated to monk seal conservation, incredibly knowledgeable, 

and exemplifies the collaborative spirit that the Species in the Spotlight initiative seeks to foster 

and highlight.

Hawaiian Monk Seal

Spotlight Hero 

Ke Kai Ola: The Marine 

Mammal Center

As of May 22, 2016, NOAA Fisheries welcomed a new grantee partner, the Hawaii Marine 

Mammal Alliance (HMMA), via a competitive federal funding opportunity award. HMMA 

assumed volunteer coordination duties on the islands of Oahu and Molokai. Between June and 

December of 2016, they received 1,445 sightings reports, spent 3,675 hours on the beach 

sharing information with community members and tourists about monk seals, and spoke to 

12,806 members of the public. HMMA has also provided a weblink where members of the 

public can submit information about monk seal sightings, including uploading photos, which 

was previously unavailable and makes reporting a seal easier for individuals uncomfortable with 

calling the hotline or who simply prefer to report via the web.

Partnerships like these enable us to have eyes, ears, and hands available to assist with monk 

seal conservation efforts across the state of Hawaii, and provide outreach and education in more 

venues than would ever be possible for a single organization acting alone.

Develop and Implement Strategic Communications Plan and Social Marketing Strategy

In commemoration of 10 years since the publication of the revised Recovery Plan for the 

Hawaiian Monk Seal, NMFS Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center and Regional Office 

designated 2017 as the “Year of the Monk Seal.” This campaign is comprised of a series of 

events and recovery actions to thank public and private partners, engage local communities, 

raise awareness of the plight of monk seals, continue cutting-edge research, and build and 

momentum for the next 10 years and more of monk seal recovery.

The Year of the Monk Seal is also a celebration of the new, positive population estimate of 

1,400 animals, reflecting a 3 percent average annual growth rate since 2013. Though the new 

population estimate is encouraging and the species appears to be moving in the right direction, 

monk seals still face numerous threats and will likely experience ups and downs on the road to 

full recovery.

Over the last decade, NMFS has collaborated with numerous agency, non-governmental, and 

community partners to engage in concerted research and recovery efforts to save monk seals. 

In addition, NMFS has provided grant funding and technical support for community-based 

projects that have sought to engage students, volunteers, and other stakeholder groups in monk 

seal conservation and outreach activities. These efforts have produced websites devoted to 

the ecology and conservation of monk seals, and public service announcements, among other 

outreach efforts.

Summary

Although more work remains to recover the species, NMFS and our partners have made 

significant headway in reducing the extinction risk of Hawaiian monk seals. We celebrate the 

encouraging news of the recent population increase, which inspires us to continue to work 

diligently across the archipelago to combat threats to monk seals and more than six decades 

of population decline. Through the Species in the Spotlight program, we continue to build and 

leverage strategic partnerships that will contribute to and complement our recovery efforts as 

we work toward recovery of Hawaii’s native seal.

Photo Credit: Julie Steelman, Ke Kai Ola

Hawaiian Monk Seal
58 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 59

SPECIES in the SPOTLIGHT

Pacific Leatherback

Sea Turtle
60 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 61

Pacific leatherbacks (Dermochelys coriacea) are one of the most endangered of all the sea turtle 

species in the world. Through the Species in the Spotlight initiative, NMFS and the U.S. Fish and 

Wildlife Service (the Services), are working with numerous international and domestic partners 

to strengthen efforts to prevent the extinction of Pacific leatherbacks.

Pacific leatherbacks are composed of two separate nesting populations—the Eastern Pacific 

and the Western Pacific. The Eastern Pacific population nests mainly in Mexico and Costa Rica, 

with some additional nesting in Nicaragua, and forages on gelatinous organisms throughout 

the Eastern Pacific Ocean. The Western Pacific population nests mainly in Indonesia with some 

additional nesting in Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. This population forages 

throughout the Western Pacific and Southeast Asian region, and migrates across the Central 

North Pacific to forage along the West Coast of the United States. NMFS has taken significant 

efforts to protect Pacific leatherbacks in U.S. waters—from designating critical habitat on 

the west coast of the United States to management measures that have significantly reduced 

bycatch of leatherbacks in U.S. federally-managed commercial longline and drift gillnet 

fisheries. For example, the Hawaii pelagic shallow-set fishery has an annual limit of 34 allowable 

leatherback interactions. The fishery is closed for the remainder of the year if this interaction 

level is reached. Further, the Services have worked hard to support capacity building throughout 

the Pacific on the nesting beaches, as well as to reduce sea turtle bycatch in small-scale coastal 

fisheries around the Pacific as well as high seas commercial fisheries.

Because the 97 percent decline of the Eastern Pacific population, and the 80 percent decline of 

the Western Pacific population, these efforts are critical. Sea turtles are long-lived, late maturing 

species. Leatherbacks reach sexual maturity and reproduce for the first time between 12-30 

years old, so it can take years to see the results of conservation activities, depending on what 

life stage they target.

Further, many threats impact leatherback populations. These threats include fisheries bycatch, 

directed harvest of turtles and eggs, coastal development, deforestation, pollution, marine 

debris, disease and climate change. The ESA is a critical tool to protect leatherbacks in 

the United States and around the world. Because of the dire status of Pacific leatherbacks, 

consistent and long-term efforts are necessary to achieve recovery. The Species in the Spotlight 

initiative has enabled us to bring additional attention to the efforts needed to prevent the 

extinction of Pacific leatherbacks.

Recovery Progress

Since the launch of the Species in the Spotlight initiative in May 2015, the Services and their 

partners have been working to implement a five-year action plan for Pacific leatherbacks. The 

action plan focuses on five critical areas to improve conservation efforts:

1.Reduce interactions in fisheries.

2.Improve nesting beach protection and increase reproductive output through outreach and 

community support.

3.Cooperate with international partners to implement conservation measures and established 

agreements.

4.Understand migratory and pelagic threats to better implement mitigation measures.

5.Raise awareness and education of actions the public can take to support leatherback turtle 

conservation.

Reduce Interactions in Fisheries

The Services have, through either direct or in-kind support, aided the efforts of partners across 

the Pacific to understand and address bycatch of Pacific leatherbacks in various fisheries. The 

Species in the Spotlight initiative directed all NMFS grant programs to highlight this threat as a 

priority. As a result, during FY 2015–2016, NMFS awarded over $300,000 in competitive grants 

to conduct sea turtle bycatch assessments in coastal fisheries of Panama, Columbia, Peru, 

Chile, and Philippines. These projects identify sources of leatherback bycatch, conduct trials to 

reduce bycatch, and provide educational outreach to fishermen to raise awareness and technical 

capacity to reduce bycatch. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service provided a grant to the InterAmerican Sea Turtle Convention to support an outreach project to bring Peruvian fishermen to 

Mexican nesting beaches to see where the leatherbacks off the coast of Peru originate. The trip 

inspired the fishermen to do more to conserve leatherbacks in their waters.

Improve Nesting Beach Protection and Increase Reproductive Output through Outreach and 

Community Support

Through the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Marine Turtle Conservation Act (MTCA) grant 

program, critical nesting beach protection has been carried out in Costa Rica, Mexico, and 

Nicaragua in the Eastern Pacific. In the Western Pacific, the MTCA has supported nesting beach 

Pacific Leatherback

Sea Turtle

Credit: R. Tapilatu
62 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 63

conservation in the Solomon Islands and Indonesia. NMFS has also provided technical capacity 

building and training to projects in Mexico and Indonesia. In Papua, Indonesia, the Services 

have been collaborating with the State University of Papua (UNIPA) over the last decade to 

develop a strong nesting beach conservation program and to garner community support for 

leatherback protection. This partnership has been critical to setting the foundation to stabilize 

and recover Western Pacific leatherbacks at their primary nesting rookery. As a result, this 

year’s Species in the Spotlight hero for leatherbacks is UNIPA.

Cooperate with International Partners to Implement Conservation Measures and Established 

Agreements

The Services have continued to work through multilateral agreements, such as the 

InterAmerican Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles, to support efforts 

to strengthen regional efforts to protect Pacific leatherbacks. The Convention has formed an 

Eastern Pacific Leatherback Task Force, composed of all of the countries that have nesting 

beaches and/or important foraging areas that support Pacific leatherbacks. Together the 

countries are working to identify key activities to reduce threats to leatherbacks. Only when all 

the range states are taking efforts to conserve Pacific leatherbacks will we be able to stop the 

decline.

In the Western Pacific, the Services along with U.S. Department of State are working with the 

government of Indonesia to identify ways to strengthen our shared commitment to protect and 

recover leatherbacks.

Understand Migratory and Pelagic Threats to Better Implement Mitigation Measures

In September 2016, NMFS’ SWFSC conducted integrated studies combining aerial surveys, 

satellite telemetry, and animal-borne video to document leatherback distribution, density, 

foraging behavior, and migratory movements. Satellite transmitters were deployed on seven 

leatherback turtles, and coast-wide aerial surveys identified a single foraging ground with high 

densities of leatherback prey (brown sea nettles) off San Francisco, CA. This research is part of 

an ongoing monitoring program to document variation in leatherback distribution and habitat 

use as ocean conditions change at seasonal, interannual and decadal scales. Such data are 

essential for developing model-based tools to predict leatherback habitat and distribution, which 

will allow managers to reduce spatio-temporal overlap between leatherbacks and fisheries that 

may incidentally harm them. The project is part of NMFS’ ongoing research in support of Pacific 

leatherback recovery and is supported financially by NMFS’ Stock Assessment Improvement 

Plan funding and the Office of Marine and Aviation Operations.

Raise Awareness and Education of Actions the Public Can Take to Support Leatherback Turtle 

Conservation 

A key component to recover Pacific leatherbacks is public support. NMFS has used its website and 

social media accounts to promote leatherbacks during its annual Sea Turtle Week in June 2016 

and 2017. Further, in October 2016, NMFS held its first celebration of California Leatherback Day. 

The celebration highlighted the Species in the Spotlight initiative, as well as the collaborative work 

with our international partners and what U.S. fishermen have done to reduce leatherback bycatch. 

This will become an annual event to highlight the advances made in leatherback conservation as 

well as to continue to call for action to sustain the conservation and recovery work over time.

Summary

Pacific leatherbacks among the most endangered sea turtles in the world. The Species in the 

Spotlight initiative has brought renewed attention to their plight. With sustained support and 

protection under the ESA, the Services are working with domestic and international partners to 

stabilize the population and move it towards recovery. Over the next three years, the Services 

will continue to implement actions under the five key areas of the five-year action plan.

 Photo Credit: Scott Benson, NMFS SWFSC

Credit: Scott Benson, NMFS SWFSC

Pacific Leatherback

Sea Turtle
64 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 65

The State University of Papua (UNIPA) 

has been actively engaged in recovering 

the largest remaining leatherback 

nesting population in the Western 

Pacific for more than 10 years. UNIPA 

has worked at “ground zero” for leatherback conservation in the Western Pacific and has been 

an essential partner for implementing NOAA’s Species in the Spotlight five-year action plan. 

UNIPA researchers and students, and their international collaborators, have worked tirelessly to 

establish a science-based management plan that minimizes nest failure and enhances hatchling 

production. UNIPA has also worked with communities and local partners, including the Tambrauw 

government, to gain support and trust, and to engage them as stakeholders in implementing priority 

conservationactions—ensuring that they benefit from leatherback conservation.

The challenges on the ground are many, but the UNIPA leatherback project continues to persist with 

unwavering determination. Fitry Pakiding, who has been the heart and soul of the project in recent 

years, received the award on behalf of UNIPA. Fitry Pakiding has a strong sense of responsibility 

towards the conservation of this leatherback population, and despite all the challenges, her dynamic 

involvement, common-sense approach, and wisdom have energized leatherback conservation 

efforts in Papua.

Leatherback 

Spotlight Hero 

The State University 

of Papua

Photo Credit: Julie Steelman, Ke Kai Ola

Credit: Scott Benson/NOAA Credit: Alex Eilers/NOAA

Pacific Leatherback

Sea Turtle
66 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 67

SPECIES in the SPOTLIGHT

Sacramento Winter-Run

Chinook Salmon
68 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 69

Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), commonly known as king salmon, are an 

iconic part of California’s natural heritage and their recovery will help ensure the economic and 

recreational well-being of future generations. Endangered Sacramento River winter-run Chinook 

salmon are particularly important among California’s salmon runs because they exhibit a lifehistory strategy found nowhere else. These Chinook salmon are unique because they spawn 

during the summer months when air temperatures usually approach their warmest. As a result, 

winter-run Chinook salmon require stream reaches with cold-water sources to protect their 

incubating eggs from the warm ambient conditions. Because of this need for cold water during 

the summer, winter-run Chinook salmon historically spawned only in rivers and creeks fed by 

cold water springs, such as the Little Sacramento, McCloud, and Pit Rivers, and Battle Creek.

The construction of Shasta and Keswick Dams eliminated access to the Little Sacramento, 

McCloud, and Pit Rivers, extirpating the winter-run Chinook salmon populations that spawned 

and reared there. The fish from these three different populations above Shasta Dam were forced 

to mix and spawn as one population downstream of Keswick Dam on the Sacramento River.

Construction and operation of hydropower facilities in Battle Creek made the creek inhospitable 

to winter-run Chinook salmon, which resulted in extirpation of the population from that area.

Today, only the one population of winter-run Chinook salmon spawning downstream of Keswick 

Dam exists. Over the last 10 years of available data (2007–2016), the population’s abundance of 

spawning adults ranged from a low of 738 in 2011 to a high of 5,920 in 2013, with an average 

of 2,704. The earliest abundance data comes from the late 1960s when up to 117,000 winterrun Chinook salmon spawning adults were estimated. The population crashed in the 1970s 

and has persisted in large part due to managed cold- water releases from Shasta Reservoir from 

the spring through the fall, and artificial propagation from Livingston Stone National Fish Hatchery’s 

winter-run Chinook salmon conservation program. Thus, winter-run Chinook salmon are dependent 

on sufficient cold water storage in Shasta Reservoir, and it has long been recognized that a prolonged 

drought could have devastating impacts, possibly leading to the species’ extinction.

Without marshalling our resources and continued and heightened engagement with our vital 

partners, Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon may be lost to future generations.

Recovery Progress

Since the launch of the Species in the Spotlight initiative in May 2015, there has been 

substantial progress on winter-run Chinook salmon recovery efforts, including advancement of 

each of the five key actions in the five-year action plan:

1.Improve management of Shasta Reservoir coldwater storage.

2.Restore Battle Creek and reintroduce winter-run Chinook salmon.

3.Reintroduce winter-run Chinook salmon into McCloud River.

4.Improve Yolo Bypass fish habitat and passage.

5.Manage winter and early spring delta conditions to improve juvenile survival.

Improve Management of Shasta Reservoir Coldwater Storage

The NMFS’ SWFSC has made substantial progress on water temperature modeling and 

biological models over the past three years. This includes a physical model of Shasta Reservoir 

that has been coupled with a Sacramento River model. Together, these models can provide 

seasonal forecasts of water temperature in the Sacramento River and the associated impacts on 

cold water storage in Shasta Reservoir.

The SWFSC also developed a novel egg mortality model to discern how water temperatures 

are expected to affect Chinook salmon egg survival. The model is a temperature-dependent 

mortality model for Chinook salmon embryos that differs from previous models in that thermal 

tolerance parameters were estimated using field egg-to-fry survival data, rather than assuming 

thermal tolerance parameters measured in laboratory studies. The SWFSC found strong 

evidence that significant thermal mortality occurred during the egg stage in some years due to a 

~5°F reduction in thermal tolerance in the field compared to laboratory studies.

A water temperature control curtain was installed in Whiskeytown Reservoir in May 2016, 

allowing colder water to be diverted into Keswick Reservoir and down into the Sacramento 

River. 

Restore Battle Creek and Reintroduce Winter-Run Chinook Salmon

The Battle Creek winter-run Chinook Salmon Reintroduction Plan was completed in 2016, 

providing a strategy to reintroduce winter-run Chinook Salmon into Battle Creek.

Reintroduce Winter-Run Chinook Salmon into McCloud River

A draft pilot plan for reintroducing winter-run Chinook salmon into the McCloud River was 

released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife in 2016. Engineering designs for 

Sacramento Winter-Run

Chinook Salmon

 Photo Credit: Andrew Jensen
70 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 71

instream and head-of-reservoir juvenile collectors were submitted by the California Department 

of Water Resources to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation in spring 2016 for installation into the 

McCloud River.

The U.S. Geological Survey is conducting various studies to assess current conditions, 

including a juvenile salmon transit study through Shasta Reservoir. Initial results have shown 

higher than expected survival.

Improve Yolo Bypass Fish Habitat and Passage

A fish barrier at the Knights Landing Outfall Gates was designed and constructed in 2015 

in order to reduce straying of adult winter-run Chinook salmon on their upstream migration 

to spawning grounds. This key project helps solve fish migration problems associated with 

the Yolo Bypass and Colusa Basin Drain. The project was championed by Sacramento Valley 

farmers (Reclamation District 108) in partnership with The Sacramento River Salmon Recovery 

Program and state and federal support. The Wallace Weir Fish Rescue Project is under 

construction and is expected to be completed in the fall of 2017. A major goal of the project is 

to prevent adult winter-run Chinook salmon from straying into Colusa Basin agricultural ditches 

and rescue them from the Yolo Bypass so they can be returned to the Sacramento River. The 

project includes replacing a seasonal earthen dam at Wallace Weir with a permanent, operable 

structure that would provide year-round operational control, and constructing a fish rescue 

facility. Manage Winter and Early Spring Delta Conditions to Improve Juvenile Survival

The Collaborative Adaptive Management Team Salmon Scoping Team Gap Analysis Report was 

completed in January 2017. This report provides research direction by identifying gaps in the 

current understanding of water project-linked effects on juvenile salmonid survival in the south 

Delta.

The Interagency Ecological Program comprised of seven agency directors requested a multiagency technical team develop a focused framework for winter-run salmon monitoring. A report 

was completed in July 2016, and several of the recommendations for improved data generation 

and reporting are being implemented in 2017.

A 90 percent design on an optimized bio-acoustic fish fence alignment at Georgiana Slough has 

been completed. The California Department of Water Resources and U.S. Bureau of Reclamation 

are in the process of securing funding.

The SWFSC completed a winter-run life cycle model that can evaluate how different water 

project operations and management actions (harvest, habitat restoration, and climate change) 

influence the long-term viability of winter-run. It has been applied in the development of a 

biological opinion on California Water Fix, a science-driven upgrade to California’s aging water 

system. Improvements to the enhanced particle tracking model for the Delta component of the 

life cycle model were made in 2016 and continue to be refined.

Acoustically tagged winter-run Chinook salmon juveniles were tracked in winter and spring of 

2016 and 2017, providing real-time fish distribution information to help managers determine 

the survival of the juveniles from their release location in Redding through Chipps Island in the 

western Delta.

Credit: John MacMillian/NOAA Fisheries

Sacramento Winter-Run

Chinook Salmon

Photo Credit: NOAA
72 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 73

Lewis Bair, General Manager of Reclamation District 

108, has been a leader in northern California water 

and salmon issues for many years. As part of the 

Sacramento Valley Salmon Recovery Program, Lewis 

has helped implement numerous actions to benefit 

Sacramento River winter-run Chinook salmon. Most 

notably, Lewis’s efforts led to the funding of two major 

projects—both of which were included in the fiveyear action plan: a fish barrier at the Knights Landing 

Outfall Gates and the Wallace Weir Fish Rescue Project. 

Reclamation District 108 contributed approximately 

$500,000 to the permitting and design of the fish barrier at Knights Landing Outfall Gates, which 

should reduce the straying of adult salmon on their upstream migration to spawning grounds. 

The Wallace Weir Fish Rescue Project, currently under construction, is expected to prevent 

adult salmon from straying into agricultural ditches and will help rescue salmon from the Yolo 

Bypass, so they can be returned to the Sacramento River. Furthermore, the Sacramento Valley 

Salmon Recovery Program was instrumental in restoring winter-run Chinook salmon spawning 

habitat with the implementation of the Painter’s Riffle Anadromous Fish Habitat Enhancement 

Project completed in December 2014. This project occurred through significant coordination 

among water users, the salmon fishing industry, environmental groups, and federal and state 

agencies, kicking off an accelerated pace of salmon habitat restoration.

Sacramento Winter-Run 

Chinook Salmon

Spotlight Hero Lewis Bair

Summary

The 2015 launch of the Species in the Spotlight initiative for winter-run Chinook salmon came 

during the worst drought on record in California. California experienced well below average 

precipitation from 2012 through 2015, record high surface air temperatures in 2014 and 

2015, and record low snowpack in 2015. Some paleoclimate reconstructions suggest that this 

recent drought was the most extreme in the past 500 or perhaps more than 1,000 years. Not 

surprisingly for a species dependent on ample cold water, the viability of winter-run Chinook 

salmon decreased during the drought. However, the impact could have been worse if not for 

major efforts to protect winter-run Chinook salmon, including Species in the Spotlight actions. 

In particular, water temperature management supported by strong science from the SWFSC 

greatly increased egg-to- fry survival in 2016. Numerous winter-run Chinook salmon actions 

were undertaken over the last few years and there are reasons for hope. First, as bad as the 

drought was, the winter-run Chinook salmon population continues to meet the low extinction 

risk criteria for abundance. Second, significant partnerships have formed with the goal of 

recovering winter-run Chinook salmon. The Sacramento River Salmon Recovery Program 

led by the Northern California Water Association, TNC, Cal-Trout, and American Rivers, in 

partnership with state and federal agencies have greatly accelerated the pace of restoration and 

the partnership continues to strengthen. Lastly, the drought conditions that started in 2012 

have ended with an extremely wet 2016/2017 winter, which bodes well for providing cold water 

throughout the 2017 spawning and egg incubation season.

Photo Credit: Robin Abcarian/Los Angeles Times

Photo Credit: NOAA

Sacramento Winter-Run

Chinook Salmon
74 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 75

SPECIES in the SPOTLIGHT

Southern Resident

Killer Whale
76 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 77

Southern Resident killer whales (Orcinus orca) experienced ups and downs through 2015 and 

2016. From late 2014 through 2015, eight calves were born, and seven of these survived their 

first year. In 2016, however, the loss of one of the oldest matriarchs J2, also known as Granny, 

and six other individuals, left only 78 whales remaining in the population at the end of 2016. 

This is the lowest number since 77 whales were counted in 1985. A 2016 five-year review of the 

population provides an overview of the population status, a detailed analysis of new information 

gathered in the last five years, and progress toward meeting the recovery goals (for a list of 

recent scientific publications see http://www.westcoast.fisheries.noaa.gov/publications/status_

reviews/marine_ mammals/kw-review-2016.pdf). The review concluded that the Southern 

Residents remain at risk of extinction and should remain listed as endangered. Based on their 

endangered status, declining population trend and risk of extinction from three primary threatsinsufficient prey, high levels of contaminants and disturbance from vessels and sound- the 

Southern Residents were identified as a Species in the Spotlight in 2015 and a five-year action 

plan highlights priority actions to take in 2016–2020. Implementing the highest priority nearterm actions continues a long-term effort to support research and conservation for Southern 

Resident killer whales.

Recovery Progress

Over the last two years we have made progress including developing new partnerships, securing 

some external funding, and implementing a variety of ongoing research and conservation. We 

worked with our partners to advance each of the five actions in the five-year action plan:

1.Protect killer whales from harmful vessel impacts through enforcement, education, and 

evaluation.

2.Target recovery of critical prey.

3.Protect important habitat areas from anthropogenic threats.

4.Improve our knowledge of Southern Resident killer whale health to advance recovery.

5.Raise awareness about the recovery needs of Southern Resident killer whales and inspire 

stewardship through outreach and education.

Protect Killer Whales from Harmful Vessel Impacts through Enforcement, Education, and 

Evaluation

Protecting the whales from disturbance from boats remains a top priority. In 2016 our partners 

at Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) secured a second ESA Section 6 grant 

to reduce disturbance from boats by expanding outreach and education efforts, analyzing 

vessel interactions, and improving whale-watching guidelines (FY 2016–2018 total $864,473). 

NMFS and WDFW patrols on the water, supported through a Joint Enforcement Agreement, 

have been successful in raising awareness and increasing compliance with the Federal and 

State regulations and Be Whale Wise guidelines. The Soundwatch Boater Education Program 

provides guidance to boaters and also monitors compliance, documenting the positive influence 

of enforcement on boater behavior. The Soundwatch compliance data is a key long term data set 

to inform the ongoing evaluation, to be completed in 2017, of the effectiveness of the current 

vessel regulations.

To better understand the effects of vessels on the behavior of the whales, the NMFS’ Northwest 

Fisheries Science Center (NWFSC) continues to analyze sound and behavioral data collected 

from 2010–2014. A new Killer Whale Research and Conservation program in partnership with 

the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF), Sea World, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and 

NMFS started in 2015, and is providing additional support for these analyses. To date, this study 

has found that the speed of vessels was the most important factor determining the level of 

sound the whales receive. The study is also evaluating whether the recently implemented vessel 

regulations have reduced sound and disturbance. Recent studies also calculated the increased 

energy the whales need to spend when communicating in a noisy environment.

In 2015–2016 NMFS engaged in a new transboundary partnership led by the Port of Vancouver, 

British Columbia, to understand and manage the impact of shipping activities on at-risk whales 

in British Columbia, including the Southern Residents. Participating on both advisory and 

technical committees, NMFS has contributed to setting goals and objectives for the Enhancing 

Cetacean Habitat and Observation Program (ECHO) to benefit transboundary species.

Target Recovery of Critical Prey

Lack of sufficient salmon prey is potentially a key factor limiting recovery of the population. 

Knowing where and when the whales are most food-limited is essential for targeting recovery 

of salmon stocks that will most benefit the whales. Knowing which salmon species and stocks 

the whales are eating is a critical first step in targeting recovery efforts and is an ongoing 

research focus. The NWFSC completed a cruise along the West Coast in February and March 

2016, which increased our understanding of the whales habitat use and prey needs in coastal 

areas, including information on specific salmon stocks consumed. The NWFSC also published 

Southern Resident

Killer Whale

Photo Credit: Candice Emmons NMFS Northwest Fisheries Science Center
78 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 79

new information on prey from fecal samples, including new information on the importance 

of coho salmon in the diet of the whales. With support from the Pacific Salmon Commission, 

the NWFSC is continuing their study of both Puget Sound and coastal food webs, focusing on 

salmon predators. Initial results indicate that other marine mammals, especially increasing 

populations of seals and sea lions, are major salmon consumers and are likely an important 

source of competition to the Southern Resident killer whales. Releases of salmon from 

hatcheries provide an important contribution to the prey base for the whales. With NFWF 

funding in 2015, the NWFSC is evaluating the effects of hatchery practices on the prey of the 

whales.

Salmon recovery is a long-term, coast-wide effort to address many threats for multiple salmon 

species and stocks throughout the west coast (see Sacramento Winter-run Chinook Salmon and 

CCC Coho Species in the Spotlight updates). NMFS continues to work with partners to connect 

salmon and killer whale recovery efforts. For example, partners such as the Whale Scout 

program (http://www.whalescout.org/) engaged whale advocates in 2015 and 2016 to conduct 

hands-on salmon habitat restoration projects. In 2015, NFWF and others funded the Salish Sea 

Marine Survival Project to understand sources of mortality of salmon in transboundary waters. 

In 2016, NFWF funded Restore Americas Estuaries to create juvenile salmon rearing habitat in 

the Skagit River to increase the prey available to the whales.

Protect Important Habitat Areas from Anthropogenic Threats

Currently, critical habitat for the whales is designated only in the core summer range in the 

Salish Sea. However, the whales spend most of the winter and a substantial portion of all 

seasons in outer coastal waters. NMFS is currently developing a revision to critical habitat for 

the Southern Resident killer whales to include outer coastal areas with essential physical and 

biological features to support conservation of the whales. To support this effort, the NWFSC 

analyzed data from satellite tagging, acoustic recorders, coastal sampling and sightings to 

describe how the whales use outer coastal habitat. New information on outer coastal habitat 

use, analysis of coastal prey samples, and information on Chinook salmon distribution are 

all important for understanding the habitat needs of the whales along the outer coast and the 

benefits of designating particular areas as critical habitat.

NMFS met with colleagues at the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada to discuss threats 

to habitat from acoustic sources. We identified ongoing partnerships and opportunities for 

collaborating to better characterize the ambient sound levels in killer whale habitat. NMFS is 

also partnering with the U.S. Navy to support acoustic studies and characterization of different 

sources of anthropogenic noise.

Improve Our Knowledge of Southern Resident Killer Whale Health to Advance Recovery

In 2015 and 2016 NMFS West Coast Region, NWFSC, SWFSC and partners at University of 

California Davis held health workshops to bring experts together to evaluate the nutritional 

status and health of the whales. These workshops included developing health assessment 

tools, identifying resources for intervention, and pulling data together from multiple studies 

into a comprehensive database. NFWF supported these efforts with a grant in 2015, and 

the pilot database developed by the Marine Mammal Foundation was presented at the 2016 

workshop. Identifying and incorporating multiple data sets into the database will enable focused 

analyses to pinpoint which health parameters are most important to the whales and help target 

management actions to support population growth.

One influential study featured at the health workshops was the ongoing SWFSC-led 

collaboration with the Vancouver Aquarium to use Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to collect aerial 

images of both Southern and Northern Residents to evaluate growth, body condition, and 

pregnancy (Durban et al. 2015). This study has been successful in imaging all members of 

the SRKW population in 2015 and 2016, with three years of comparative data from Northern 

residents from 2014–2016. Photogrammetry analyses of these data are underway, and 

continuing data collection in multiple seasons in 2016 and 2017 is supported through a 2015 

NFWF grant, which will provide insight into where and when the whales are food limited. A 2016 

NFWF grant expanded this study by comparing the photogrammetry measurements with health 

biomarkers in skin and blubber, specifically to explore the importance of both nutrition and 

contaminants, as well as their possible interaction, on whale health. This study will incorporate 

samples collected and analyzed by the NWFSC to better understand the health factors that may 

be driving the whale’s observed body conditions. In 2016, NFWF also funded the University of 

Washington to analyze fecal samples to evaluate toxin levels and use hormone assays to infer 

nutritional status and potential impacts to pregnancy. The NWFSC is working with killer whales 

at Sea World under a 2016 NFWF grant to assess transfer of persistent organic pollutants from 

females to their calves. In 2016 NMFS also completed a review on contaminants, including 

considerations of how mixtures of different compounds interact to affect the whales. There are 

other ongoing NWFSC studies to evaluate the health implications of inbreeding and to study the 

health implications of bacteria found in the whales’ lungs.

Another source of information on the health of the whales is through investigations of stranded 

whales. In 2016, two Southern Resident killer whales stranded in Canada and the ongoing 

investigations are providing new insights into health issues. In March 2016 an adult male, L95, 

died from a fungal infection that may have been related to a satellite tag attachment. In order to 

evaluate the risk of this pathogen to other whales, the NWFSC is testing for the presence of this 

fungus in previously collected killer whale samples and in samples for other stranded marine 

mammals. At the end of 2016 an adult male, J34, died of blunt force trauma and the case is still 

under investigation. U.S. and Canadian veterinarians and pathologists are reviewing all killer 

whale strandings along the west coast and have highlighted the role anthropogenic factors, Photo Credit: NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center and Vancouver Aquarium

Southern Resident

Killer Whale
80 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 81

Jeff Hogan has partnered with NOAA for 

over a decade and has helped implement 

many important recovery actions for 

endangered Southern Resident killer 

whales. Jeff is the Executive Director of 

Killer Whale Tales, an environmental education program that uses storytelling and field-based 

science to inspire students to take an active role in the conservation of Pacific Northwest killer 

whales. Jeff has poured his heart and soul into this unique program and has helped promote 

awareness and conservation of killer whales to an audience that NMFS would normally be 

unable to reach. During the 2015–2016 school year, Jeff and Killer Whale Tales reached a record 

of 12,742 students in 312 classrooms at 206 schools, including new students and classrooms 

in California through an NOS Hollings Grant award and new partnerships with NOAA’s National 

Marine Sanctuaries Program. Partnering with Killer Whale Tales has helped NMFS reach a 

new audience and successfully implement a variety of important actions in the Recovery and 

Species in the Spotlight five-year action plans. His program, Killer Whale Tales, inspires active 

stewardship in students and their families and allows them to participate in actions that make 

measurable differences for the whales and their environment. No other program takes such 

an ambitious approach to address multiple aspects of killer whale conservation or has such a 

strong record of evaluating the on the ground impact of recovery actions taken by dedicated 

individuals.

Southern Resident 

Killer Whale

Spotlight Hero 

Jeff Hogan

such as ship strikes and fishery interactions, and environmental factors, such as disease, 

can play on health and mortality. Ongoing efforts to combine results using multiple methods 

through stranding investigations, a health database and new partnerships will greatly expand 

our knowledge and strengthen the support for conservation actions.

Raise Awareness about the Recovery Needs of Southern Resident Killer Whales and Inspire 

Stewardship through Outreach and Education

Public support is essential to conservation of at-risk species. The Species in the Spotlight 

initiativehas created a new campaign to spread messages about the whales through social 

media, videos, and web pages. Even more importantly, we are developing partnerships that 

reach new audiences to raise awareness about the whales, and the threats they face. Many 

partners inspire stewardship of the whales and their habitats by educating concerned citizens 

about actions they can take to help recovery the whales. NMFS has long-standing partnerships 

with education and outreach experts at institutions in the region, such as The Whale Museum 

and Seattle Aquarium. In 2015 and 2016, new opportunities and partnerships have helped 

expand the reach of several education programs. In 2015, the National Ocean Service Hollings 

Grant program funded Killer Whale Tales, a classroom program inspiring students and their 

families to take an active role in conservation. Killer Whale Tales partnered with NOAA’s 

National Marine Sanctuary program and have expanded into California, to cover the full range 

of the whales. During the 2015–2016 school year, Killer Whale Tales reached 12,742 students 

in 312 classrooms, and Jeff Hogan, the Executive Director, was recognized as a Species in 

the Spotlight Hero. In 2016, The Whale Trail received a Hollings Grant to support land-based 

viewing at a network of sites along the range of the whales and has expanded into California as 

well as British Columbia with Canadian partners.

Summary

In summary, over the past two years we have continued to improve our understanding and 

ability to protect this unique population. Through the work of our scientists and regional 

partners, we have made significant progress on many of the key actions identified in the 

Southern Resident Killer Whale five-year action plan. Despite these efforts, the population has 

not grown and in fact has declined in abundance since it was first listed under the ESA. We 

clearly still have important work to do to bring Southern Resident killer whales back from the 

brink of extinction.

Photo Credit: Deborah Giles of the Center for 

Whale Research

Southern Resident

Killer Whale
82 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 83

SPECIES in the SPOTLIGHT

White Abalone
84 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 85

White abalone (Haliotis sorenseni) are herbivorous marine snails that historically occupied 

subtidal rocky reef habitats from Point Conception, California to Central Baja California, Mexico, 

and the offshore islands and banks. White abalone are thought to help sustain the health and 

diversity of kelp forest ecosystems through competition for food and space with species like 

urchins and brittle stars that can decimate kelp forests. Sexes are separate, and gametes are 

released freely into the ambient sea water during reproduction. Males and females must be in 

close proximity for successful fertilization to occur and recruitment events are likely episodic. 

White abalone are estimated to live a minimum of 30 years.

White abalone supported a brief but intense and profitable commercial fishery in southern 

California during the 1970s. The state fishery historically was managed using size limits and 

seasons, which did not account for density-dependent reproduction and assumed regular 

successful recruitment. A combination of factors, most notably overfishing, reduced numbers 

of this bottom-dwelling species to very low levels, resulting in a fragmented population. Results 

from remotely operated vehicle (ROV) surveys and population viability analyses suggested 

that the remaining individuals were too far from potential mates to successfully reproduce in 

the wild. The fishery closure in 1997 has not reversed this status. In 2001, white abalone was 

the first marine invertebrate to be listed as endangered under the ESA, a protective step that 

managers hoped would help white abalone to recover.

Monitoring of wild white abalone has confirmed that populations continue to decline in some 

areas, and the wild population is at high risk of extinction. Even if limited natural recruitment of 

white abalone is occurring, it is happening too slowly to give the species the foothold it needs 

to weather future threats and be viable over the long-term. The best way to safeguard white 

abalone against extinction is a captive breeding program aiming to produce young abalone. 

These captive- raised animals can enhance wild populations to the point that densities are 

boosted enough to sustain healthy and prolific populations without human intervention. One 

approach aimed at increasing abundance and reproductive success of white abalone in the wild 

would be to place these captive bred individuals (outplanting) in currently unoccupied areas or 

in groups of wild abalone and captive bred abalone. Continued monitoring of wild white abalone 

and their habitat must occur at the same time as captive breeding in order to identify habitats 

best-suited for future enhancement efforts and to track species’ status over time.

Restoring white abalone to subtidal rocky reefs will help ensure a resilient kelp forest ecosystem 

(one of the most diverse marine ecosystems on earth), keep a culturally iconic species thriving, 

and ultimately may revive a once-thriving commercial and recreational industry.

Recovery Progress

Since the launch of the Species in the Spotlight initiative in May 2015, we have worked with many 

partners to make progress on the five key actions in the five-year action plan for the white abalone:

1.Expand a captive propoagation program.

2.Implement a successful outplanting program.

3.Monitor and enhance white abalone populations in the wild.

4.Identify, characterize, and prioritize existing and potential white abalone kelp forest habitat.

5.Develop a comprehensive, multi-institution outreach plan. 

Because each of these key actions is intricately linked, we report on progress across all actions 

in the following narrative.

NMFS’ recovery strategy for white abalone includes a captive breeding program to enhance 

wild populations in strategic locations in Southern California and Mexico (the historic range 

of the species) and a population and habitat monitoring program that is designed to track 

populations over time and determine whether the species is sustaining itself in the wild. 

Conservation efforts have focused on two recovery activities. The first is a captive propagation 

and enhancement program initiated to increase the number of captive-grown white abalone that 

can be reintroduced back into the wild. NMFS West Coast Region oversees the program in close 

coordination with the University of California at Davis’ Bodega Marine Laboratory (UC Davis 

BML) and in partnership with five other facilities. The second is monitoring the demographics 

of the small population of wild white abalone and characterizing habitat use using ROVs and 

self-contained underwater breathing apparatuses (SCUBA) in the Southern California Bight and 

Baja California, Mexico. NMFS oversees this program in close partnership with the California 

Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW) and several other partners.

White Abalone

Photo Credit: NOAA
86 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 87

We have been working to implement four key actions to recover white abalone. The first is to 

develop methods for reliable and increased production of healthy captive-raised white abalone 

that will be used to increase the abundance and reproductive success of the wild population. 

The second is to determine the factors that lead to high survival rates of captive-raised 

animals in the wild. The third is to develop methods and tools that will effectively monitor the 

demographics of enhanced white abalone populations over time and gauge the overall success 

of the program. The fourth is to strengthen existing partnerships and forge new ones through 

the development of an outreach plan that communicates the key messages of the recovery 

program and highlights the important roles partners will play in recovering white abalone 

throughout its range.

The UC Davis BML leads our captive breeding program with six partners: University of California 

at Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara Natural History Museum Sea Center, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, 

Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, NMFS SWFSC, and CDFW. The partners are making great 

strides in understanding what factors are important for successful reproduction of adults and 

survival of young abalone. For example, laboratory studies to identify the optimal light cycle for 

adults and field studies to identify the environmental conditions (and behavioral responses to 

them) that adults experience in nature are leading to improvements in laboratory holding tanks. 

As a result, production has increased steadily with each annual spawning since 2014. Today 

there are thousands of healthy white abalone being held in captivity.

NMFS issued an ESA permit last year making it possible to collect new broodstock from the wild 

for the 2017 spawning season. One of those newly collected animals contributed its eggs to the 

2017 cohort, making it the first time since 2003 that new genes have been incorporated into the 

program. A new injection of genetic diversity into the captive population is intended to promote 

the overall health and resilience of the captive abalone. This should help improve their chances 

of surviving the challenge of being returned to the wild during experimental outplanting efforts.

Program scientists are currently trying to figure out what combination of conditions will help 

improve the chances of a successful transition from a captive setting to a wild subtidal kelp forest. 

In laboratory studies, young captive abalone are being raised on different substrates and being 

fed different diets in order to examine which factors influence survival. In nature, experimental 

outplanting trials with red and green abalone led by the CDFW, Get Inspired, and the Bay 

Foundation are helping us develop appropriate outplanting methods and determine which habitat 

features and predator communities may have the most significant impacts on outplant survival.

NMFS continues to lead efforts to track the movement and behaviors of wild white abalone and 

a closely related species, pinto abalone, in response to different environmental conditions. The 

collection of acoustic tracking, time-lapse camera, and environmental data will help determine 

the best timing and placement for outplanting captive-raised white abalone.

NMFS also continues to improve population monitoring accuracy through the use of ROVs and 

SCUBA. ROVs can cover large areas, but are limited to deeper areas that do not contain thick 

kelp beds. SCUBA surveys can effectively cover smaller areas in shallower water that have 

dense kelp. Combining the two sampling techniques allows for greater spatial coverage of rocky 

reefs, better population estimates, and better habitat characterizations. We are looking forward 

to adding other instruments to the ROV that may help improve abalone detection rates. SCUBA 

efforts provide opportunities for the collection of additional white abalone broodstock, monitor 

the health and demography of wild populations, and gather information on the factors that 

influence experimental red and green abalone outplantings. Data resulting from SCUBA efforts 

will be critical in the future to ensure a successful white abalone outplanting program.

Our partner list has expanded and now includes regular cooperation with two commercial 

aquaculture farms, the U.S. Navy, academic and governmental scientists in Baja California 

Mexico, and the Honda Marine Science Foundation. Within NMFS, the Protected Resources 

Division continues to work across NOAA programs, including the NOAA Restoration Center, 

Aquaculture, Science and Technology, the SWFSC, and Sanctuaries to carry out a variety of 

recovery activities. Our new relationships were forged and our current partnerships sustained 

by holding workshops, attending meetings, developing interagency agreements. For example, 

we signed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Navy solidifying their commitment to provide 

over $2.1 million in total funding over 7 years to support core research and survey needs for 

white abalone recovery at the Tanner and Cortes Banks and also near other critical Navy facilities 

on San Clemente Island and at Point Loma in southern California. We continue to implement 

grant programs (e.g., ESA Section 6 Grants to States), and communicate a unified message for 

recovery. Outreach and education programs at our partner institutions and the Species in the 

Spotlight initiative, accompanied by the NMFS Communications Team White Abalone Outreach 

Campaign, have helped highlight our program to perspective partners and funding agencies.

White Abalone

Photo Credit: John Butler/NOAA
88 Recovering Threatened and Endangered Species U.S. Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | National Marine Fisheries Service 89

Dr. Kristin Aquilino has played an 

instrumental role in shaping the captive 

breeding program for white abalone. Dr. 

Aquilino manages the program—charged 

with rebuilding the declining populations 

of wild abalone—at the University of 

California Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory (BML). Under Dr. Aquilino, in 2012 the program had 

its first successful spawn since 2003 in 2012 and has since documented successful spawns 

each year. She helped facilitate the construction of a new broodstock facility with improved 

flow, temperature, and lighting controls that better mimic the abalone’s natural environment in 

southern California, she also aided the design and construction of new rearing tanks that should 

increase the survival of young abalone through their first year. Since she joined the program 

in 2011, Dr. Aquilino has worked hard to facilitate collaboration within the BML and between 

various state and federal agencies, aquariums, and commercial aquaculture facilities to realize 

the recovery goals for white abalone.

White Abalone 

Spotlight Hero

Dr. Kristin Aquilino

Summary

In summary, our captive propagation program has expanded to the point that thousands of 

healthy animals, suitable for outplanting, are currently in captivity. The methods for captive 

spawning and rearing have improved, factors that lead to higher rates of spawning and 

survival are being identified, health care protocols are being employed and improved when 

necessary, and additional partners with unique skill sets are contributing to the program. 

We are moving towards our first experimental outplanting of captive-raised white abalone by 

perfecting methods for outplanting closely related species, incorporating new genetic material 

into the captive breeding program through the collection of wild broodstock, identifying and 

characterizing habitat and environmental characteristics that will promote the long-term survival 

of outplanted abalone. We currently are developing an application for an ESA permit that will 

allow for the experimental outplanting of white abalone. We continue to improve ROV, SCUBA, 

time lapse camera, acoustic tracking, genetic, and health monitoring methods in the field so that 

we can assess the status of wild and restored white abalone populations. Outreach, education, 

and communication efforts are highlighting white abalone’s imperiled state and form the bases 

for new partnerships, additional funding, and more effective and efficient implementation of 

recovery actions.

Photo Credit: Sammy Tillery

White Abalone
U.S. Secretary of Commerce

Wilber Ross

Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and 

Atmosphere and Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for 

Oceans and Atmosphere

RDML Tim Gallaudet, Ph.D., USN Ret.

Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries

Chris Oliver

November 2017

www.fisheries.noaa.gov

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