OLYMPIA – Brian Abbott, A resident of Littlerock, in Thurston County, has been tagged to lead the Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office, which coordinates regional efforts to return salmon from the brink of extinction.

The Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office provides funding for and coordinates the efforts of 25 community-based watershed groups and 7 regional organizations across the state that are charged with implementing federally approved recovery plans for salmon and bull trout.

“We are very excited to have Brian lead the salmon recovery office,” said Kaleen Cottingham, director of the Recreation and Conservation Office, which oversees the Governor’s Salmon Recovery Office. “He’s dedicated his career to improving the plight of salmon and understands the issues and challenges facing this iconic fish. Under his leadership, Washington will continue to be a leader on recovering salmon populations.”

Abbott joined the Recreation and Conservation Office in 2000, and worked his way up to lead the salmon recovery grant section. Before that, he was the district manager for the Pierce Conservation District, where he created and coordinated the district’s salmon recovery programs. He also served as the vice president and president of the South Puget Sound Salmon Enhancement Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving salmon populations. He started his career as an environmental specialist working for the Washington State Department of Ecology.

Raised in Chehalis, in Lewis County, Abbott is married with two children. He is an avid fisherman.

In Washington, salmon populations have been decimated. In the early 1990s, the federal government began listing salmon species as endangered. Over the next decade, federal agencies listed 17 species of salmon as either threatened or endangered. By 1999, some salmon populations had disappeared completely and salmon were listed as threatened or endangered across nearly three-fourths of the state.

The federal Endangered Species Act and Washington State law require development of plans to recover salmon. Washington residents have been working for more than

10 years to reverse the fate of salmon, and those efforts are beginning to pay off. Learn more.

In addition to an iconic fish, salmon are big business in Washington. Many businesses, such as bait and tackle shops and charter fishing companies, rely on the world-renowned Pacific salmon. Today, recreational salmon fishing alone creates nearly $130 million in economic activity each year.

“I look forward to working with the hundreds of people dedicated to salmon recovery,” Abbott said. “We have lots of challenges ahead of us but I’m confident that Washington has solid recovery plans in place and the staff needed to implement those plans. But more importantly, I believe we have the will to make sure there are enough salmon for the businesses that rely on them for jobs, for the tribes that need them for sustenance and cultural traditions, and for our kids to be able to go down to their neighborhood stream and cast a line.”