Salmon are the iconic fish of the Pacific Northwest of the USA. And, many species of salmon are endangered.

My interest in the fisheries, science, and cultural issues was piqued during a high volume of spawning salmon in Pipers Creek in Seattle, Washington, USA in the autumn of 2021.

I've continued to vaguely follow the issues but now, in 2023, a couple salmon runs are stronger than expected (still way too low) and the sockeye salmon remain scarce.

We obviously need to rely on metrics for preventing overexploitation of a food-source, but can models predict accurately with the vast unknowns facing habitats?