Thursday, October 1, 2026
An environmental necessity, a vital economic resource, and a cultural symbol, salmon play a fundamental role in the Pacific Northwest—but they are in trouble.
With warming oceans, environmental degradation, and lowering genetic variability, wild salmon populations are dwindling. Climatologist Nick Bond explores the past, present, and possible future conditions for salmon in our state, and sees room for optimism. He shares lessons on how local communities have accomplished important work to support salmon runs, but also takes a hard look at the realities climate change poses for this regional treasure. Explore the history, science, and story of this cherished Northwest icon.
Nick Bond is the Washington State Climatologist, a position created by the State of Washington to serve as a credible and expert source of climate and weather information. He earned a PhD in Atmospheric Sciences from the University of Washington, and is now a principal research scientist with the Joint Institute for the Study of Atmosphere and Ocean with the College of the Environment. Bond is on the Science Panel for the Puget Sound Partnership, which focuses on the actions needed to recover and sustain the Puget Sound ecosystem.
Bond lives in Seattle.
1 comment on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
AJoytoknow
It makes me sick in my soul this has continued to be an emergency rather than a success story. It's not news, I was taught about declining salmon population when I was a kid over 30 years ago. We have known of solutions that could help, but it's somehow being allowed to be tied to politics. Remove dams! Return "capitol lake to the estuary it naturally is. Humans do not need to consume salmon. No ifs ands or buts. If Salmon (and Orcas) do have great recovery, then slowly think about allowing minimal fishing. Stop building anywhere close to shorelines. Clean up the pollution humans have caused and put massive fines on any people or companies who continue to pollute. So what if humans don't get everything they want like getting a kick from fishing. I care about these other animals, not human animals in this case. We have forgotten how to be part of the circle. We have forgotten we too are animals and have let ourselves pretend we have more rights to the land than other animals. We don't. We have a responsibility to fix what we have broken, even if some people lose some money because of it. I would live in the dark if I thought it would save our environment. No more committees to study the problem in hopes we don't have to do the necessary hard work. My whole life it's been a lot of talking but very little action. Shame on humans!
Monday, May 31, 2021 Report this