Salmon recovery in Puget Sound has been guided over the years by collaborative processes which have resulted in recovery documents, like the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan. Recovery documents guide our regional efforts to advance salmon and steelhead recovery by identifying strategies and actions aimed at protecting and restoring habitat salmon depend on.

Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan

The Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan (Plan) includes strategies and actions for habitat protection and restoration, hatchery management, and harvest management. The Plan is made up of a regional chapter, the 2024 Addendum to the regional chapter, and 16 watershed recovery chapters (see image below).

Regional Chapter

The Regional Chapter (formerly known as the Shared Strategy) was first developed in 2005 and then approved by NOAA Fisheries in 2007. It outlines the status and criteria for threatened species (such as Puget Sound Chinook, Hood Canal summer chum, and bull trout) and includes regional recovery strategies and adaptive management.

The 2024 Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan Addendum (Addendum) is a complementary streamlined, focused, actionable addition to the Regional Chapter of the 2007 Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Plan to tackle cross-watershed challenges and policy barriers. The Addendum will guide regional salmon recovery efforts for the next 10 years.

Our staff are developing an Implementation Plan to track and advance 20 regional-focused actions selected from the Addendum over the next two years. To create the plan, we worked with partners to develop a long-term shared vision. This includes identifying activities (called commitments) implementers can take over the next two years to work towards our shared vision and understand how to track their activity.

Watershed Recovery Chapters

Watershed recovery chapters are developed by lead entities and Tribes from individual Puget Sound watersheds. These chapters provide strategies for local salmon habitat recovery and recommend projects, programs, and policies. For additional information on watershed recovery chapters, please visit the Local Recovery Plans section of the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Hub.

• Four Year Work Plans – Every two years, lead entities provide Four Year Work Plans for salmon recovery. In these plans they describe their accomplishments during the previous year, report on their progress, and identify next steps over the next four years needed to implement their watershed chapter.

Additional Salmon Recovery Documents

Chinook Implementation Strategy - Developed in 2018, this strategy helps focus recovery actions across Puget Sound, especially for Chinook salmon, and guides both the Action Agenda and local watershed planning. It is a collaborative effort between the Puget Sound Partnership, the Tribal Management Conference, and the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council.

Puget Sound Steelhead Recovery Plan - Approved in 2019, this plan guides the protection and recovery of Puget Sound steelhead, a species listed as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). This plan aims to improve steelhead viability by addressing the pressures that contribute to the current condition, including:

• Habitat loss and degradation,
• Water withdrawals,
• Declining water quality,
• Barriers to fish passage
• Farm operations
• Hatchery and harvest impacts,
• Climate change effects, and
• Low survival rates in early marine life.

Last updated: 12/05/25