Reconnecting Rivers Boosts Oregon Coast Coho Recovery

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By fisheries.noaa.gov, fisheries.noaa.gov.

NOAA Fisheries supports one of the most ambitious salmon restoration projects on Oregon’s coast: the Salmon SuperHwy. This partnership of more than a dozen organizations works across the Tillamook, Nestucca, and Sand Lake watersheds. It works to restore fish passage at dozens of stream barriers, such as failing road culverts and tide gates. When complete, salmon and steelhead will be able to access 180 miles of habitat that had been blocked for decades.

The benefits of the Salmon SuperHwy project and other coastal restoration work are not just theoretical. Threatened Oregon Coast coho salmon have experienced a dramatic rebound in recent years. NOAA Fisheries Oregon Coast Branch Supervisor Lance Kruzic believes that restoring rivers and streams has helped more coho survive their juvenile life stage and return as adults to spawn.

“Over the last 30 years, substantial funding has been invested in restoring freshwater habitat, and coho have been benefiting,” said Kruzic. “For example, the Tillamook area—which was once one of the toughest places for coho to reach the habitat they needed—is now a bright spot for coho recovery. There’s been a total flip.”

Two coho salmon, a pink colored male and a silver colored female, jump up a frothy white creek.
Coho migrating up an Oregon Creek. Credit: Adobe Stock

Since 2021, an average of more than 150,000 Oregon Coast coho have returned annually to coastal rivers and streams. The Pacific Fishery Management Council predicts another strong year for 2026, estimating an ocean abundance of 219,000 wild coho.

Population growth has also been driven by reduced ocean harvest, changes to hatchery programs, and relatively favorable ocean conditions for coho in recent years. Coho often spend their years in the ocean closer to the coast than other salmon species, where they benefit from upwelling of cold and nutrient-rich water from the deep ocean. However, Kruzic thinks the benefits of reconnecting freshwater habitat were evident even when ocean conditions were poor due to a marine heatwave from 2015 to 2020.

Read the full article here: Reconnecting Rivers Boosts Oregon Coast Coho Recovery

Originally published on 4 June, 2026.

Neskowin Creek, a salmon stream in Tillamook County, Oregon, flows out to the Pacific Ocean. Credit: Adobe Stock
Neskowin Creek, a salmon stream in Tillamook County, Oregon, flows out to the Pacific Ocean. Credit: Adobe Stock