Interior Fraser Steelhead: Still in Extreme Conservation Concern
British Columbia's Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship released its final status update on the 2025/26 run of Interior Fraser Steelhead (IFS) on July 29, 2026. The verdict is grim but not surprising: both the Thompson and Chilcotin populations, the two watersheds that have anchored IFS monitoring since the 1970s, remain in a state of Extreme Conservation Concern.
For anyone who has followed these fish, the numbers below are a familiar kind of heartbreak. They also underscore why the fight for wild steelhead recovery can't slow down.
The Numbers
Thompson River Steelhead: 132 spawners
The preliminary estimate for Thompson River steelhead spawning in spring 2026 is just 132 fish, the second-lowest in 49 years of monitoring, which began in 1978. It's consistent with the depressed abundances observed since 2018, a period roughly 10 times lower than what was observed between 1978 and 2006.
There is one thin sliver of context worth noting: the 132 estimate came in higher than the bleak test-fishery forecast issued last November, which projected just 18 fish (with a 95% credible interval of 0–102). Better than feared, but nowhere near recovery.
Thompson tributary breakdowns:
• Deadman: 28
• Bonaparte: 23
• Nicola: 81
For reference, Thompson steelhead are classified as Extreme Conservation Concern below 430 spawners, and Conservation Concern between 430 and 1,200. At 132, the population sits far beneath even the lower threshold.
Chilcotin River Steelhead: 34 spawners
The Chilcotin estimate is just 34 fish, the third-lowest in 55 years of monitoring dating back to 1972. Like the Thompson, this figure exceeded the November test-fishery forecast of 8, and it falls within that forecast's 95% credible interval of 0–41.
Chilcotin steelhead are classified as Extreme Conservation Concern below 300 spawners and Conservation Concern between 300 and 760. At 34, the population is a fraction of the threshold.
The Bigger Picture
The assessment leans on Thompson and Chilcotin data because, together, these watersheds have made up the majority of Interior Fraser Steelhead since monitoring began. Other IFS populations, in the Bridge, Seton, Stein, and Nahatlatch systems, aren't captured in this snapshot: there are no continuous annual spawner estimates for the Seton, Stein, or Nahatlatch, and Bridge River estimates are intermittent and limited to recent years. In other words, the fish we can count are collapsing, and much of the rest of the picture remains dark.
Both the test-fishery-based estimates and the spawner estimates point to the same conclusion for both watersheds: Extreme Conservation Concern, again.
This update, authored by biologist Robert Bison, closes out the second of two reports on the 2025/26 run, issued since November 2025.
Why It Matters
Two of the most storied wild steelhead populations are hovering in the low double digits and mid triple digits, numbers that would have been unthinkable a generation ago, when these rivers produced thousands of returning fish. The long decline visible in the Ministry's abundance charts isn't a blip. It's a decades-long slide that has settled into a new, dangerously low baseline.
Reports like this one are a reminder of the stakes, and of why continued monitoring, habitat protection, harvest accountability, and bold recovery action matter now more than ever.
Source: Ministry of Water, Land and Resource Stewardship, Water, Fisheries and Coast Division, "Status Update for Interior Fraser Steelhead," July 29, 2026.