The Oregon Chub (Oregonichthys crameri) is a small cyprinid minnow endemic to the Willamette River drainage of western Oregon. In 1993, the Oregon Chub was listed as Endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act due to extensive habitat loss, curtailed distribution, and predation by nonnative species. Since listing, ODFW collaborated with federal agencies, private landowners, and other organizations to protect this unique fish. Conservation activities to support Oregon Chub have included long-term habitat protection and restoration, improved in-stream flow management, the establishment of new populations via translocation, and the discovery of previously undocumented populations. As a result of these efforts, the USFWS downlisted the Oregon Chub to Threatened in 2010, and in 2015, the species became the first fish to be removed from the Endangered Species List due to recovery.
Following their delisting from the ESA, a post-delisting monitoring (PDM) plan was developed to ensure that the species' status remained stable or continued to show improvement once the protections of the ESA were removed. The 9-year plan, which concluded in 2023, focused on monitoring in three recovery areas: the Santiam, the Mainstem Willamette, and the Middle Fork Willamette. In 2023, the ninth and final year of intensive monitoring, we identified 137 known Oregon Chub populations, of which 105 were naturally occurring, and 32 were introduced. Abundance estimates and population distribution that year exceeded the post-delisting monitoring criteria and suggested continued stability for Oregon Chub rangewide.
Since the conclusion of the PDM, the Native Fish Investigations Section has continued to monitor select populations in collaboration with partners to ensure the species remains stable without ESA protections. Current efforts focus on populations that were introduced or discovered during the final years of the PDM.