Species: Oncorhynchus tshawytscha pop. 2

E - 5000-20,000 square km (about 2000-8000 square miles) - E - Historically this salmon population was widely distributed throughout the Snake River and many of its major tributaries from its confluence with the Columbia River near Pasco, Washington, upstream 990 km to Shoshone Falls, Idaho, and the lower portions of the Salmon and Clearwater rivers, Idaho. The most important spawning grounds in the Snake River were between Huntington, Idaho (river km 527), and Auger Falls, Idaho (river km 977).<br><br>The range has been reduced considerably by dams. Spawning and rearing currently are limited to the Snake River below Hells Canyon Dam (to the upper end of Lower Granite Reservoir), and in the Tucannon River, Grande Ronde River, Imnaha River, Salmon River, and Clearwater River, and four artificial propagation programs: the Lyons Ferry Hatchery, Fall Chinook Acclimation Ponds Program, Nez Perce Tribal Hatchery, and Oxbow Hatchery fall-run Chinook hatchery programs.<br><br>Salmon of this ESU migrate through the Columbia River to nonbreeding habitat in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of southeastern Alaska, Canada, Washington, and northern Oregon. NMFS (1999) determined that populations in the Deschutes River basin are not part of this ESU.