Good news on Puget Sound salmon is worth celebrating. Nearly 900,000 coho are expected to return to Puget Sound in 2026—abundance levels not seen in decades—and healthy wild and hatchery runs create opportunities for sustainable sport fishing throughout the Sound.
Former WDFW official Pat Patillo represents NMTA on the Puget Sound Sport Fishery Advisory Group and at the annual North of Falcon meetings, where state, federal and tribal fishery managers plan the recreational and commercial salmon fisheries. Pat works to promote well-managed fisheries and maximize sport fishing opportunity while meeting conservation and tribal treaty obligations.
Pat does everything he can to protect and advocate for these valuable salmon seasons and ensure anglers have opportunities to get on the water. In 2024, the Marine Area 10 coho fishery provided 65,000 angler days and generated an estimated $6 million in economic benefit.
Coho are the backbone of Puget Sound’s sport salmon fishery, and NMTA funds Pat’s work to help protect this important resource and the fishing opportunities it provides—another way NMTA is working on behalf of our industry and anglers.
