Nonindigenous Species of the Pacific Northwest: An Overlooked Risk to Endangered Salmon?

Nonindigenous species, which are associated with the decline of many threatened and endangered species, are a major threat to global diversity. This risk extends to salmonids, the most widespread threatened and endangered species in the Pacific Northwest. Pacific salmonids traverse large geographic areas that include freshwater, estuarine, and ocean habitats in which they encounter numerous nonnative species. For this article, we examined the extent to which introduced species are a risk to threatened and endangered salmon. We identified all documented nonindigenous species in the Pacific Northwest, including fish, invertebrates, birds, plants, and amphibians. Where data exist, we quantified the impact of nonindigenous species on threatened and endangered salmonids. The results indicate that the effect of nonindigenous species on salmon could equal or exceed that of four commonly addressed causes of adverse impacts - habitat alteration, harvest, hatcheries, and the hydrosystem; we suggest that managing nonindigenous species may be imperative for salmon recovery.