2026 AA Explorer | Fish Passage Barriers

TOPIC 13

Fish Passage Barriers

RESILIENT HABITATS

About the Action Agenda Explorer

Overview Implementation Progress

Overview

VITAL SIGNS

Remove and correct fish passage barriers to reconnect salmon habitat.

Salmon and steelhead need connected habitat to survive. Across Washington, thousands of miles of fish habitat, such as rivers and streams have been cut off by roads, culverts, dams, tide gates, bridges, and other human infrastructure. These barriers block adult salmon from reaching spawning grounds and stop juvenile salmon from swimming to sea.

Fish passage barriers also create temperature barriers, make salmon vulnerable to predators, reduce nutrients in rivers, and disrupt natural flows. These barriers can also cut off access to culturally important foods and traditional fishing sites. Courts have ruled that culverts constructed by the state violate treaties between the U.S. and Western Washington Tribes.

Several endangered salmon are impacted by fish passage barriers, but when these barriers are removed, fish return and use previously inaccessible habitats. Many fish passage barriers have been corrected within the last few decades, but many more remain.

Fish passage barriers exist on both private and public lands. This means federal, Tribal, state, and local governments, private landowners, and non-profit groups must work together to inventory, prioritize, and remove fish passage barriers to ensure that limited funding has the biggest impact.

Removing fish passage barriers supports sustainable fisheries, protects cultural values, and improves ecosystem services by improving water quality and flood regulation. In Puget Sound, funding comes from a variety of federal, Tribal, state, and local sources. These investments support fish passage and habitat restoration work, but more and continuous funding is needed for long-term success. Related Strategies that address salmon habitat recovery can be found under the Action Agenda Topics for Floodplains and Estuaries, Stormwater Runoff, and Invasive Species.

Strategies and Actions

Strategy Action

Strategy Action

What We're Tracking

The Partnership uses a system of indicators and targets to monitor our progress implementing regional priorities and movement towards Puget Sound recovery goals. Commitments describe activities that partners and the Partnership pledge to pursue over the next four years to implement the Action Agenda and/or the Salmon Recovery Plan. Progress Indicators track human activities that impact ecosystem health. Vital Sign Indicators track the status and trends of ecosystem conditions, including human health and quality of life.

2026-2030 Commitments

Commitments describe activities that partners and the Partnership pledge to pursue over the next four years to implement the Action Agenda and/or the Salmon Recovery Plan.

Organization	Description	Status
Puget Sound Conservation Districts Caucus	Commitment: Puget Sound Conservation Districts (PSCDs) will continue identifying, designing, and implementing fish passage barrier removal projects on residential, forest, and agricultural lands, including coordinating these efforts through regional strategies, and will continue connecting landowners/managers to local, regional, and federal funders such as Family Forest Fish Passage Program (FFFPP), Natural Resources Conservation Services (NRCS) and Regional Conservation Partnership Program (RCPP) to implement barrier removal projects through 2030 and beyond.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers	Commitment: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) will restore natural geomorphic processes and provide approximately 18 miles of critical fish passage at all flows within the Skokomish River basin by 2026.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife	Commitment: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will strive to create a guidance document for how counties, cities, and watersheds can prioritize their fish passage barrier removals.
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife	Commitment: Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will strive to provide web access to Riparian Data Engine through June 2026 and to Priority Habitats and Species information, existing High Resolution Change Detection data, and updated fish passage data on an ongoing basis.
Washington State Department of Transportation	Commitment: Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) will improve the quality and accessibility of salmon habitat by continued implementation of Fish Passage and Chronic Environmental Deficiency projects, which construct climate resilient upgrades to highway infrastructure that improve salmon habitat and their ability to adapt to changing instream and ocean conditions through 2027.

Indicators

Indicators are one or more metrics that we track consistently over time with repeatable methods. Indicators help us understand key dynamics of interest to tell the story of short-, medium-, and long-term changes in human activities and ecosystem conditions in Puget Sound. Each indicator is evaluated for trend (e.g., 'getting better', 'getting worse', etc.). Some indicators also have targets and are evaluated for target status (whether we have met those targets).

Drift cells in functional condition

Estuary area in functional condition

Extent of forest cover in nearshore marine riparian areas

Feeder bluffs in functional condition

Floodplain function in large and small river systems

Number of accessible pocket estuaries and embayments

Number of natural-origin Chinook salmon on spawning grounds

Number of natural-origin coho salmon on spawning grounds

Number of natural-origin Puget Sound steelhead on spawning grounds

Number of natural-origin summer chum salmon on spawning grounds

Drift cells in functional condition (View in Vital Signs)

This indicator is under development and is proposed as a measure to integrate attributes of drift cell function including 1) armor and overwater structures in the sediment supply and deposition zones as well as the transport reach, (2) marine riparian vegetation cover, and (3) forage fish presence/absence.

Trend

Drift cells in functional condition

By:

No reported data available

Estuary area in functional condition (View in Vital Signs)

This indicator measures the amount (acres and percent) of estuarine surface area in functional condition in Puget Sound’s 16 large river deltas. Estuary function is measured by the extent of connected tidal wetlands. Functional estuaries provide many ecosystem services and are critical to the recovery of the region’s salmon populations.

Trend

Extent of forest cover in nearshore marine riparian areas (View in Vital Signs)

This indicator measures the percent and acreage of forested cover (vegetation approximately 8 feet or taller) within defined riparian zones landward of the marine shoreline.

Trend

Extent of forest cover in nearshore marine riparian areas

By:

No reported data available

Feeder bluffs in functional condition (View in Vital Signs)

This indicator measures the amount (length and percent) of Puget Sound feeder bluffs shorelines that are in functional or impaired condition (Figure 1). Feeder bluffs are eroding coastal bluffs that deliver the majority of sediment to maintain Puget Sound’s beaches and spits (Keuler 1988). Beaches and bluffs provide critical habitat for the region’s fish and wildlife, including spawning beaches for forage fish and rearing habitat for juvenile salmon. Shoreline armor is the main factor that impedes the functionality of feeder bluffs (Johannessen and MacLennan 2007; MacDonald et al. 1994) and therefore the presence of armor along feeder bluff shores is used as a proxy to assess feeder bluff function in our region.

Trend

Floodplain function in large and small river systems (View in Vital Signs)

This indicator measures the amount (acres and percent) of floodplain area in functional condition in Puget Sound’s 17 major rivers. Floodplain function is assessed at a regional scale using river connectivity and land use and cover. Areas that have natural land cover and unrestricted river flow are expected to be the most functional and provide the most ecosystem services. Floodplain function is impaired in areas with non-natural land cover or restricted river flow due to constraints or barriers (for example, roads, railroads, and levees).

Trend

Floodplain function in large and small river systems

By: Condition Assessment

Number of accessible pocket estuaries and embayments (View in Vital Signs)

This indicator measures the number of pocket estuaries and embayments that are accessible to juvenile salmon.

Trend

Number of accessible pocket estuaries and embayments

By:

No reported data available

Number of natural-origin Chinook salmon on spawning grounds (View in Vital Signs)

This indicator evaluates the abundance and trends of the 22 Chinook salmon populations by measuring the number of natural-origin adult fish on the spawning grounds of five Puget Sound regions. Abundance estimates here do not include hatchery-origin fish (with few exceptions) or Chinook taken in harvest or by predators like orcas. The indicator is intended to reflect the goal of achieving wild population recovery of Puget Sound Chinook, which are federally listed as threatened.

Trend

Target Status

Number of natural-origin coho salmon on spawning grounds (View in Vital Signs)

This indicator evaluates the abundance and trend of five coho salmon management units as measured by the number of natural-origin adult fish on the spawning grounds of Puget Sound. Abundance estimates here do not include hatchery-origin fish or coho salmon taken in harvest or by predators like orcas. The indicator is intended to reflect the abundance of wild coho salmon in Puget Sound, which are not federally listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Trend

Number of natural-origin Puget Sound steelhead on spawning grounds (View in Vital Signs)

This indicator evaluates the abundance and trend of the 32 steelhead populations by measuring the number of natural-origin adult fish on the spawning grounds of three Puget Sound regions. Abundance estimates here do not include hatchery-origin fish or steelhead taken in harvest or by predators like orcas. The indicator is intended to reflect the goal of achieving wild population recovery of Puget Sound steelhead, which are federally listed as threatened.

Trend

Number of natural-origin summer chum salmon on spawning grounds (View in Vital Signs)

This indicator evaluates the abundance and trend of the 2 Hood Canal summer-run chum salmon populations by measuring the number of natural-origin adult fish on the spawning grounds. Abundance estimates here do not include hatchery-origin fish or fish taken in harvest or by predators like orcas. The indicator is intended to reflect the goal of achieving wild population recovery of Hood Canal summer chum, which are federally listed as threatened.

Trend