Scientists conservatively estimate that well over one-quarter of native Pacific salmon populations spawning in rivers and lakes from California to southern British Columbia have gone extinct. Here are lists of regional losses and salmon extinctions in the western United States.

During a deluge of rain in the Pacific Northwest a kayaker drops a huge dam on the Little Salmon River in Oregon.

wow - how can these things get so far? they are amazing

In this season of bickering relatives and whining children, of overcrowded department stores and unwritten Christmas cards, it is instructive to consider the plight of the Pacific salmon. As the fish leap, flop and struggle upstream to spawn, their levels of cortisol, a potent stress hormone, surge, providing energy to fight the current. But the

Puget Sound, home to already-imperiled salmon, orcas and shorebirds, could be further jeopardized by rising sea-levels brought on by global warming, according to a new report from the National Wildlife Federation. Which takes an unprecedented look at global warming's profound impact on the coastal habitats of Washington and Oregon.

Oncorhynchus is a genus of in the family Salmonidae; it contains the Pacific salmons and Pacific trouts. The name of the genus is derived from the Greek onkos ("hook") and rynchos (nose"), in reference to the "kype" - the hooked jaw of males in mating season. Their range extends from Beringia southwards, roughly to Japan and the southwestern USA.Salmon and trout with ranges in the Pacific Ocean waters are members of the genus. Unlike many trout species of the mainly European genus Salmo, most Oncorhynchus are anadromous (migratory) and die after spawning. SystematicsOncorhynchus chrysogaster – Mexican golden troutOncorhynchus clarkii – Cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarki alvordensis – Alvord cutthroat trout (possibly extinct)Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri – Yellowstone cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarki behnkei – Snake River fine-spotted cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarki clarki – Coastal cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarki clarki f. crescentii – Lake Crescent cutthroat trout, Crescenti trout (sometimes O. c. crescentii)Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi – Lahontan cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarki lewisi – Westslope cutthroat trout, Black-spotted cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarki macdonaldi – Yellowfin cutthroat trout (extinct)Oncorhynchus clarki pleuriticus – Colorado River cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarki seleniris – Paiute cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarki stomias – Greenback cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarki utah – Bonneville cutthroat troutOncorhynchus clarki virginalis – Rio Grande cutthroat troutOncorhynchus gilae – Gila troutOncorhynchus (gilae) apache – Apache trout, Arizona troutOncorhynchus gorbuscha – Pink salmon, Humpback salmonOncorhynchus keta – Chum salmon, Dog salmon, Keta salmon, Silverbrite salmonOncorhynchus kisutch – Coho salmon, Silver salmon, "silvers"Oncorhynchus masou – Seema, Cherry salmon, Japanese salmon, Masu salmon, "sema", "sima"Oncorhynchus masou formosanum – Taiwanese salmon, Formosan salmonOncorhynchus masou ishikawai – Satsukimasu salmon, Red-spotted masu salmon, amago (formerly O. ishikawai, sometimes included in O. masou masou)Oncorhynchus masou var. iwame – Iwame trout, Markless trout (formerly O. iwame)Oncorhynchus masou masou – YamameOncorhynchus masou rhodurus – Biwa troutOncorhynchus mykiss – Rainbow trout, Steelhead, Ocean trout, Redband troutOncorhynchus (mykiss) aguabonita – Golden troutOncorhynchus mykiss gairdnerii – Columbia River redband troutOncorhynchus mykiss irideus – Coastal rainbow troutOncorhynchus mykiss irideus f. beardsleei – Beardslee trout, "blueback" (sometimes O. m. beardsleei)Oncorhynchus mykiss newberrii – Great Basin redband troutOncorhynchus nerka – Sockeye salmon, Red salmon, Blueback salmon, KokaneeOncorhynchus rhodurus Oncorhynchus tshawytscha – Chinook salmon, Blackmouth, Black salmon, Chub salmon, Columbia River salmon, Hookbill salmon, King salmon, Quinnat salmon, Spring salmon, Tyee salmon, Winter salmonOncorhynchus rastrosus, the Sabertooth salmon (sometimes called Smilodonichthys), was a 9-foot-(3 meter-)long species known from from Late Miocene to Pleistocene fossil. Footnotes^ Sepkoski (2002)