Coho salmon off the Oregon coast have been re-listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Yesterday’s move was compelled by a court-ordered deadline mandating that the NOAA Fisheries Service reconsider its 2006 decision to delist the coho because it wasn’t based on the best available science. The Oregon coastal coho stock has been the subject of contentious debate and litigation for over a decade; it was originally listed as threatened in 1997. NOAA Fisheries officials made it clear they preferred Oregon’s voluntary approach, but NOAA begrudgingly complied with the court order nonetheless. “As the court ordered, we have made a new determination based on the information available to us in this limited time,” said NOAA’s Bob Lohn. “Had it not been for these limitations, we may have reached a different conclusion. I continue to believe that there is great value in the Oregon plan.” The Oregon coho’s re-listing could also affect logging and development plans in the area.
