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NOAA Fisheries announces "Species in the Spotlight" campaign for Atlantic Salmon.

NOAA Fisheries announced a new Species in the Spotlight campaign to focus recovery and public education efforts on nine marine species that are at risk of extinction.

Bangor Salmon Pool, Penobscot River 1926

As we begin the fifth decade of administering the ESA, NOAA is rededicating itself to ensuring we do not lose any species on our watch. The ESA has been successful in preventing species extinctions—less than 1 percent of the species listed under the ESA have been delisted because of extinction. While we have recovered and delisted a small percentage of listed species since 1973, we would likely have seen hundreds of species go extinct without the ESA.

Of all the species NOAA protects under the ESA, we consider nine among the most at risk of extinction in the near future. As a result, we have launched our “Species in the Spotlight: Survive to Thrive” initiative, a concerted agency-wide effort to spotlight and save these highly at-risk species.

This initiative will include targeted efforts vital for stabilizing their populations and preventing their extinction. Our approach involves intensive human efforts to stabilize these species, with the goal that they will become candidates for recovery. We want these species, as well as all of our listed resources, to survive and thrive.

The nine “Species in the Spotlight” are:

  • Atlantic Salmon Gulf of Maine Distinct Population Segment (DPS)
  • Central California Coast Coho Evolutionarily Significant Unit (ESU)
  • Cook Inlet Beluga Whale (DPS)
  • Hawaiian Monk Seal
  • Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle
  • Sacramento River Winter-run Chinook (ESU)
  • Southern Resident Killer Whale (DPS)
  • White Abalone
  • North Atlantic Right Whale

Our plan is to focus additional recovery efforts on these nine species as our resources allow. We believe that focused effort on these 9 species can significantly reduce, stabilize, or reverse their rate of decline by 2020. We will also sustain a year-long public education effort on these species - highlight them, what we are doing to recover them and what our partners are doing. As we move ahead, we are interested in soliciting any ideas and or hearing your suggestions on any partnership opportunities you think we can capitalize on, particularly in regard to Atlantic salmon.

A summary of some of the work NOAA is doing to recover Atlantic salmon can be found here and follow along with the work of the Northeast Salmon Team here. In the coming months, we will be developing materials specific to salmon and in those, we will highlight the important partnerships with Maine Department of Marine Resources, USFWS, Penobscot Nation, NGOs, USGS, University of Maine, and our many other partners. 

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