Rogue River

Rogue River

Located in southern Oregon, the Rogue River is known for its world-class sport fishery. Five species of salmon and steelhead inhabit the Rogue and its tributaries, including the wild and scenic Illinois River. These rivers run through some of the most remote and wild natural areas in the Pacific Northwest. The Wild Salmon Center is working with local partners and state and federal agencies to protect and restore this unique ecosystem.

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Sarufutsu River

Sarufutsu River

The Sarufutsu River is one of Japan’s last free-flowing wild salmon rivers and contains the most important habitat in Japan for the critically endangered Sakhalin taimen (Hucho perryi), Japan’s largest freshwater fish. Other salmonids include chum, pink and cherry salmon as well as white spotted charr. The basin contains pristine wetlands and lakes that are not only important for wild salmonids, but also for migrating birds -- including Arctic swans, Steller’s Sea-Eagles, and Red Crowned Cranes. The Wild Salmon Center is working with local organizations, government agencies and private sector partners to protect important salmon habitat and support sustainable fishery practices.

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Hoh River

Hoh River

The Hoh River, which flows from its headwaters in Olympic National Park at 8,000 feet to the ocean, is one of the most important strongholds for wild salmon south of Canada. It has one the region's last native populations of coastal spring chinook salmon, some of the last healthy populations of coho salmon, and a race of large winter steelhead that can reach weights of more than 25 pounds. The Hoh also supports resident cutthroat trout, rainbow trout and coastal bull trout.

Salmon-dependent wildlife diversity in the Hoh floodplain includes northern spotted owl, marbled murrelet, bald eagles, black-tailed deer, otters, cougars, and black bears.

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John Day River

John Day River

The John Day River is the Columbia Basin's most biologically diverse river system and a globally important stronghold of wild salmon. The John Day is the second-longest undammed river in the American West, and the longest free-flowing river system in the continental United States with entirely unsupplemented runs of wild salmon and steelhead. Despite massive expenditures for Columbia River Basin salmon recovery, there is no blueprint to permanently protect this exceptional ecosystem.

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Trask River

Tillamook & Clatsop Anchor Habitats

Large areas of the Tillamook forest in the Coast Range of Oregon were burned in the Tillamook Burn of 1933 and in subsequent years and roughly six year intervals. As a result, much of the Tillamook and Clatsop State Forests are second growth. Nonetheless, these forests provide an important opportunity to preserve healthy salmon habitat. The priority watersheds for salmonids in the Coast Range include the Nehalem, Salmonberry, Kilchis, Trask, and Wilson rivers. The Tillamook is the largest expanse of unprotected, contiguous rainforest in the lower 48 states. The area has several endangered and threatened species, including the marbled murrelet and the Northern spotted owl.

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Bristol Bay Salmon

Nushagak River

The Nushagak River in southwest Alaska runs into Bristol Bay and is one of the most important and pristine wild salmon rivers in the world. The Nushagak and its tributaries support the largest wild sockeye fishery on earth. These rivers also support a globally significant Chinook run. Unfortunately, this area is threatened by a proposed gold and copper mine - the Pebble Mine would be one of the largest mines in the world. The Wild Salmon Center has assembled a team of scientists to analyze and report on the potential impacts of the proposed mine on water quality and the salmon fishery.

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Utkholok River

Utkholok & Kvachina Rivers

The Utkholok and Kvachina watersheds in the western Koryak Autonomous Okrug are some of the most productive and best-protected steelhead (O. mykiss) rivers on the Kamchatka Peninsula. The river basins, totaling 736,000 acres, drain the rich lowland tundra ecosystems of the western Kamchatka Peninsula, meeting at Cape Utkholok before draining to the Sea of Okhotsk. The Utkholok and Kvachina meander in complex channels through low floodplain forests of cottonwoods and willows. Both rivers contain exceptionally large steelhead, sometimes weighing as much as 30 pounds (18 kg). The Wild Salmon Center is working with Russian scientists, government officials and local communities to establish a salmon protected area capturing these two watersheds.

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Zhupanova River

Zhupanova River

The Zhupanova River watershed is one of the most productive trout rivers in the world, and is home to the richest rainbow trout habitat on Kamchatka. Situated in the south-eastern Kamchatka Peninsula, the Zhupanova drains a 1.1 million acre area extending into the central Kamchatka Range of volcanic mountains. The river contains exceptionally large trout, some reaching 12-15 lbs (7.3-9 kg), five species of Pacific salmon, and two species of anadromous char (Dolly Varden and kundzha). The Zhupanova is also an important resting place for migratory birds, which gather here in the thousands during their fall migration.

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Kol River

Kol River

The Kol River system flows from the Central Mountains in west-central Kamchatka 75 miles west to the Sea of Okhotsk. The river contains one of the richest known assemblages of salmonid fish, including native stocks of chinook, coho, sockeye, chum, pink and Asian masu salmon (all six Pacific salmon species), as well as steelhead, rainbow trout, Dolly Varden char, and white-spotted char. The Kol Basin is also extremely productive. Annual salmon returns generate nutrient inputs of 581 to 1161 kg/square kilometer of watershed area. The watershed provides habitat for Kamchatka brown bears, Steller's sea eagles, and numerous other marine and terrestrial bird and mammal species. For these and other reasons, the Kol has been designated a Project Site by the United Nations Development Programme/Global Environment Facility's $13-million initiative ":Conservation and Sustainable Management of Kamchatka's Wild Salmonid Biodiversity.": The work of the Wild Salmon Center and its partners led to the approval of this initiative, which is the UN's first ever effort to protect wild salmon, and Wild Salmon Center is a main partner in the project's execution. The creation and operation of the Kol River Salmon Refuge is one key project outcome.

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Koppi River

Koppi River

The Koppi River watershed is situated in the geographic region of Northern Primorye. The river flows down the eastern slope of the Sikhote-Alin mountain range into the northern part of the Sea of Japan. Glaciers did not reach the Sikhote-Alin mountain range during the Ice Ages, and it became a refuge for many species of tertiary flora and fauna. Manchurian deer and moose are abundant in the Koppi River watershed. Several Amur tigers permanently live there. The bird fauna is very rich and includes some species listed in the Red Book of the Northern Russian Far East: scaly merganser, mandarin duck, great fish owl, and Steller's sea-eagle.

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Samarga River

Samarga River

The Samarga River is a unique and relatively untouched center of biodiversity in the Eastern Sikhote-Alin Mountains. It may be considered the model water body for the Primorye region of the Russian Far East. This river is located in northeast Primorsky Krai (Primorye). This watershed is a part of an ancient nature complex, in which the natural environment is still very pristine because there are no roads, many mountains, and difficult coastline access. The Samarga is the biggest river (220 km length) of the northern Sikhote-Alin. Healthy populations of pink, cherry (masu), and chum salmon, Dolly Varden, and Sakhalin char still exist here. The Samarga basin is also home to the largest population of a rare salmonid species - Sakhalin taimen - still in healthy condition.

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Pursh-Pursh River

Pursh-Pursh River

Wild Salmon Center has worked with our Russian partners, including Sakhalin Environment Watch, to establish a 165,000 acre salmon/marine refuge on Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. The Vostochnii Refuge in northeast Sakhalin includes two entire ocean-draining basins, the Vengeri and Pursh-Pursh Rivers, protecting habitat for healthy populations of pink, chum and coho salmon, as well as char and other salmonids. The refuge protects some of the last remaining intact forest ecosystems of Sakhalin in perpetuity and includes a 2km marine buffer to protect endangered sea lions.

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Tugur River

Tugur River

The Tugur River flows through the Tuguro-Chumikanskiy region of Khabarovskyi krai (territory) and into the southwestern part of the Sea of Okhotsk. The Tugur River basin is practically unpopulated. There are no roads except for winter snow roads, and no mining or logging activities. Most of the basin is in natural pristine condition. There are 23 species of freshwater fish in the river, including numerous populations of chum, pink salmon, lenok, grayling and Siberian taimen, plus various minnows and pike. The Tugur River basin is very promising for developing ecological tourism.

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Tugur River

Shantar Islands

The Shantar Archipelago is a group of beautiful and largely untouched islands in the western Sea of Okhotsk. The Shantars hosts a unique mixture of plant communities and climatic zones, and boasts a wide variety of wildlife as well as unique geological features. Over 240 species of birds (including 25 endangered species) live on or migrate through the islands, and numerous large seabird colonies can be found along the island shores. In addition to supporting productive salmon runs and the only population of rainbow trout in Asia outside Kamchatka, the waters around the island provide habitat for a large variety of marine mammals, including endangered populations of Western Pacific grey whales and bowhead whales.

We are working with the Khabarovsk Wildlife Foundation to create the Shantar Islands National Park, which will also protect the marine environment surrounding the islands. WSC has supported scientific expeditions to the area, the results of which will be used by the Wildlife Foundation to develop the scientific nomination for the park. The Wildlife Foundation is also preparing zoning and management recommendations to protect key areas and allow responsible tourism in others.

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Opala River

Opala River

The Opala River is one of the most highly productive and diverse wild salmon rivers in the North Pacific. The Wild Salmon Center is working with local partners and stakeholders to better conserve this pristine salmon ecosystem and wild fishery resource.

The Opala is home to all six species of Pacific salmon. There are 2 state nature reserves on the lower and upper courses of the Opala: the "Yugo-zapadnyy tundrovyy" ("Southwest Tundra") reserve on the lower reach, and the "Oleniy dol" ("Deer Valley") reserve on the upper reach. Nonetheless, these reserves, like many others on Kamchatka, currently do not provide adequate protection for salmonid species.

Along with the other rivers of Western Kamchatka, the Opala is a very important reproduction center for Pacific salmon, making a very substantial contribution to the coastal harvests of the Kamchatka fisheries complex. Tourism companies are active on this river, oriented primarily toward sport fishing and river rafting.

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Krutogorova River

The Oblukovina, Krutogorova & Kolpakova Rivers

The Oblukovina, Krutogorova, and Kolpakova river basins combine to make a three-basin salmon ecosystem in western Kamchatka that is over 2.4 million acres. In the near future, the Oblukovina River will be designated as a Salmon Protected Area and the adjacent Krutogorova and Kolpakova river basins will have an enhanced salmon monitoring and co-management regime, allowing both better protection of the salmon habitat and development of natural resources in close partnerships with local stakeholders, NGOs, Kamchatka Administration and extractive industries.

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Krilyon Peninsula

The Sakhalin's Krilyon Peninsula contains the adjacent Kura and Naicha River basins, which total 55,845 acres. These rivers are home to pink and chum salmon, masu, and Sakhalin taimen. This remote, wild region is in surprising proximity to the city of Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, making the region a good candidate for establishment of a "Nature Park" with an emphasis on eco-tourism.

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Aniva Bay on the southern end of Sakhalin

Aniva Bay on the southern end of Sakhalin

Programs

Sakhalin's salmon are a symbol, a treasure and hope for many of the island's residents.

Sakhalin Island

Sakhalin Island and its surrounding waters are rich with great biological and mineral wealth. Some of the Pacific Rim's rarest and most commercially valuable populations of salmon are found on Sakhalin. Salmon generate significant benefits to the ecology and the economy of the island.

Sakhalin Salmon Initiative

Effective salmon conservation on Sakhalin requires a multi-disciplinary approach that incorporates a diverse group of local and international stakeholders. The Wild Salmon Center began working actively on Sakhalin in 2004, conducting interviews with over 200 organizations/stakeholders to identify existing threats and develop strategies to address these threats.

What's New

First Russian Fishery Certified as Sustainable

SSI Receives Prestigious Russian Award

Find Out More

In late 2006, the Sakhalin Salmon Initiative (SSI) was officially launched with the support of Sakhalin Energy Investment Company and the Sakhalin Oblast Administration at the SSI International Conference. The action items included in the Conference Resolution provided the organizational mandate for establishing the Sakhalin Salmon Initiative Center, a local implementation body for the Initiative, which opened in April, 2007 in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin.

Conservation efforts will focus on priority basins, while other projects, including the regional monitoring plan and the watershed councils network effort, will take a regional approach.

To ensure that Sakhalin's salmon ecosystems and the communities they support thrive in the 21st century, the Sakhalin Salmon Initiative has six focal areas:

The SSI is managed by the Sakhalin-based SSI Center and overseen by the SSI Coordinating Committee of twenty-three organizations that operate locally, including the Sakhalin Oblast Administration, Wild Salmon Center, regional and federal agencies, academic institutions, business enterprises, commercial fishermen, indigenous communities and other local and international NGOs. Sakhalin Energy is a founding sponsor of the SSI, which is also supported by the Neukom Family Foundation, the Mott Foundation, Trust for Mutual Understanding, USDA Forest Service International Programs, Turner Foundation, International Riverfoundation, and several other international foundations and private donors.

The Sakhalin Salmon Initiative is separate from the Sakhalin II or other specific oil and gas projects on Sakhalin, and Sakhalin Energy's participation should be considered an additionality to Sakhalin II project delivery. SSI is not designed to address or replace Sakhalin Energy's Health, Safety or Environmental obligations under Russian or international laws and agreements.

Why Sakhalin Salmon?

The key benefits of salmon:

  • Enriching terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems and directly benefiting over 137 other species
  • Providing almost half of employment in Sakhalin's rural communities
  • Comprising over 15% of the animal protein intake of the coastal population
  • Sustaining a powerful cultural symbol of the island's history and identity that is deeply associated with the traditions of Sakhalin's people, particularly indigenous people
  • Generating major revenues for the island; Sakhalin's salmon fishery is the second largest in Russia

If maintained into the future, the value of Sakhalin's economic and cultural resources is virtually unlimited. Unfortunately, even in areas as remote as Sakhalin, many wild populations have exhibited declines, with 42% at moderate to high risk of extinction. The Sakhalin taimen, the most evolutionarily ancient and largest salmonid, is currently in serious danger of extinction. Salmon face a number of threats which must be addressed for the long term sustainability of the species.

The primary threats to salmon:

  • Unsustainable harvest, particularly poaching for roe. Some expert estimates maintain that illegal harvests are equal in volume to legal harvests.
  • Habitat destruction and degradation. The legacy of unsustainable forestry and mining practices has seriously altered Sakhalin's landscapes, with habitat damage still evident decades later. Over 40 billion dollars have been invested in Sakhalin's oil and gas industry over the past decade, demonstrating the scale of current development in the region.
  • Climate change, which threatens to disrupt ecosystem balance with unforeseen consequences for salmon and their ecosystems.

Investments in these oil and gas deposits and other social and economic changes pose risks and offer opportunities, specifically the opportunity to set a precedent for balancing the sustainable use and conservation of the island's biological wealth with the rational development and management of the island's other resources. If this balance is not achieved, the biological wealth of the region could be undermined and the sustainable economies and cultures of local communities damaged.