“Since day one, the Biden-Harris Administration has been committed to salmon recovery along the West Coast. This new funding will help NOAA boost efforts to aid Pacific salmon survival and recovery,” said US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo. “This investment made possible thanks to President Biden’s commitment to investing in America, will help get Pacific salmon populations closer to the healthy and abundant levels our West Coast ecosystems and communities need and help create new jobs that enhance climate resilience along our coasts.”
The PCSRF program funds projects and activities necessary for the conservation of 28 salmon and steelhead species listed as threatened or endangered or identified by a state as at-risk to be listed; maintaining populations to support tribal treaty fishing rights or native subsistence fishing; or conservation of Pacific coastal salmon and steelhead habitat.
As part of the larger PCSRF objectives, BIL funding will specifically support projects that:
- Protect, restore, and conserve Pacific salmon and steelhead and their habitats, using approaches that enhance ecosystem resilience to climate hazards.
- Support tribes’ role as fishery managers and stewards of tribal trust resources for cultural, spiritual, subsistence, and recreational purposes.
“The PCSRF program has a long history of working with partners on targeted, effective restoration projects that have meaningful and measurable impacts for salmon and steelhead populations and local communities,” said Janet Coit, Assistant Administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “This funding presents an unprecedented opportunity to advance salmon recovery efforts that will have positive impacts for years to come.”
NOAA will accept proposals from eligible applicants from Alaska, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington, as well as from federally recognized tribes of the Columbia River Basin and Pacific coast (including Alaska). The application deadline is March 4, 2025. Recommended proposal selections are expected to be announced in the summer of 2025.
This announcement builds on 25 years of NOAA Fisheries’ PCSRF program driving impactful habitat restoration across the West Coast and Alaska. Since 2000, the program has provided over $1.8 billion in funding and supported nearly 16,000 projects that have protected, restored, and created nearly 1.2 million acres of salmon habitat while reopening more than 12,000 stream miles for salmon and steelhead passage.
