2026 Larry Rutter Award Ceremony
The Pacific Salmon Commission is pleased to announce that Dr. Laurie Weitkamp is the recipient of the 2026 Larry Rutter Award in Pacific Salmon Conservation. She received the honors at the Commission’s 41st Annual Meeting in Vancouver, B.C.
Laurie holds three degrees from the University of Washington: a Bachelor of Science in Zoology, a Master of Science in Fisheries, and a PhD in Aquatic and Fishery Science. She has devoted her career to the conservation and recovery of Pacific salmon and is internationally recognized as a field ecologist whose innovative research has advanced the understanding of salmon biology.
Her work has been instrumental to understanding how environmental change impacts Pacific salmon abundance, marine distribution, migration, predation, diet, growth, fitness, and survival.
Dr. Weitkamp has served as a Research Fisheries Biologist for NOAA Fisheries’ Conservation Biology Division since 1992. In 1994, she led the West Coast Coho Salmon Status Review, which provided the scientific foundation for listings of coho salmon under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). She continues to serve on the NOAA Fisheries Technical Recovery Team, developing biological recovery goals and reporting on progress for listed coho salmon populations from the Columbia River south to Punta Gorda, California. A dedicated member of the PSC’s Coho Technical Committee since the 1990s, Laurie is widely known for her annual updates to the PSC Community on ocean conditions.
She has also contributed her expertise as a member of the Washington Coast Chinook Salmon Status Review Team. Her expertise, insight, and advice were instrumental to the Committee’s Periodic Report, including descriptions of fisheries and hatchery-wild interactions for U.S. Management Units.
About the Award
Larry Rutter was a fixture in Pacific salmon conservation and management for more than three decades until his untimely death in 2014. He was a leading influence in how the Tribes, the United States, and Canada approached salmon management and research during the turn of the 21st century. The Commission established the Larry Rutter award to help memorialize Larry’s lifetime of work including his legacy in the PSC, the Pacific Northwest Tribes, the Southern Fund Committee, and beyond.
Since 2016, the recipients (in order) have been: Lorraine Loomis, Don Hall, Brian Riddell, Phil Anderson, Jim Scott, Sue Farlinger, Bill Auger, Gary Morishima, Mike Staley, Steve Gotch, and Laurie Weitkamp.