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NOAA Fisheries
Office of Protected Resources
 Acropora palmata thicket on Mona Island, Puerto Rico. Andy Bruckner, 1996Coho salmon painting, Canadian Dept of Fisheries and OceansMonk seal, C.E. BowlbyHumpback whale, Dr. Lou Herman
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Species
Marine Mammals
Cetaceans
Pinnipeds
Marine Turtles
Marine & Anadromous Fish
Marine Invertebrates & Plants
Species of Concern
Threatened & Endangered Species
Critical Habitat Maps

MMPA Turns 40: Protecting Marine Mammals Since 1972
  Contact OPR
Glossary
OPR Site Map

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Marine and Anadromous Fish

Overview
NOAA's National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) has jurisdiction over most marine and anadromous fish listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Marine fish spend their entire life in salt water. Anadromous fish are born in fresh water, migrate to the ocean to grow into adults, and then return to fresh water to spawn.

Status of Fish Species
The majority of fish listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA are Pacific salmonids, though the Gulf of Maine Atlantic salmon, U.S. populations of smalltooth sawfish, shortnose sturgeon, and totoaba are also protected under the ESA. Other fish of interest are species of concern or candidate species.

If different populations of a fish species have been listed under the ESA as "distinct population segment (DPS)" or "evolutionarily significant unit (ESU)", some DPSs or ESUs may be threatened and others endangered.

(E = "endangered"; T = "threatened"; P = "proposed"; C = "candidate"; S = "species of concern"; F = "foreign")

Species Status
S
C/S
S
S
  • Gulf of Maine
E
  • Gulf of Maine
 T
  • New York Bight
 E
  • Chesapeake Bay
 E
  • Carolina
 E
  • South Atlantic
 E
S
C
C/S
  • Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin
E
  • Southern
S
C/S
 
  • Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin
T
T
T
T
E
C
T
E
T
T
T
S
T
T
E

T
T
T
T
S
S
  • cusk
    (Brosme brosme)
C/S
S
C
  • southern
T
T
S
S
E
S
S
S
S
 
  • Southern
 T
 
  • Southeast Alaska
 C
S
S
S
S
  • sawfish (various species)
    • Anoxyprisitis cuspidata
    • Pristis clavata
    • Pristis microdon
    • Pristis zijsron
C
C
E
  • U.S. portion of range
E
  • previously non-listed population(s)
C
T
E
S
T
T
T
T
E
T
T
T
T
T
T
S
S
  • Acipenser naccarii
  • Acipenser sturio
  • Acipenser sinensis
  • Acipenser mikadoi
  • Huso dauricus
C
C
C
C
C
S
E (F)
S
 
  • Puget Sound/ Georgia Basin
T

For information on other fish managed by NOAA Fisheries, such as commercial, recreational, and subsistence fisheries, visit the site of the Office of Sustainable Fisheries.

More Information

Updated: August 27, 2012

humphead wrasse
Humphead Wrasse
(Cheilinus undulatus)
Photo: Brian Zgliczynski, NOAA

Nassau grouper
Nassau grouper
(Epinephelus striatus)
Photo: Stephania Bolden, NOAA

Sockeye salmon underwater photo
Sockeye Salmon
(Oncorhynchus nerka)
Photo: Travis Nelson,
Washington Dept. of Fish & Wildlife

Chinook Salmon
Chinook Salmon
(Oncorhynchus tshawytscha)
Photo: NOAA

underwater photo of chum salmon
Chum Salmon
(Oncorhynchus keta)
Photo: NOAA


Coho Salmon
(Oncorhynchus kisutch)
Photo: NOAA


Steelhead Trout, black and white photo
Steelhead Trout
(Oncorhynchus mykiss)
Photo: NOAA's Monterey Bay
National Marine Sanctuary

smalltooth sawfish
Smalltooth Sawfish
(Pristis pectinata)
Photo: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

bocaccio
Bocaccio
(Sebastes paucispinis)
Photo: NOAA

cowcod
Cowcod
(Sebastes levis)
Photo: NMFS Southwest Fisheries Science Center

cusk
Cusk
(Brosme brosme)
Photo: NMFS Northeast Region

sand tiger shark
Sand Tiger Shark
(Carcharias taurus)
Photo: NOAA's National Ocean Service
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