With climate change and environmental damage wreaking havoc on wildlife all over the world, the developing success story of Taiwan’s cherry salmon brings hope to conservationists and animal lovers.

What look like snorkelers in wetsuits are swimming in mountain streams, but they're not there to take a dip; they're conducting a census of Taiwan’s cherry salmon.

Oncorhynchus masou formosanus goes by the common names of Formosan landlocked salmon, cherry salmon, and Taiwanese trout, among many others, and is still listed as Critically Endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List. However, the current population of roughly 16,000 today is a staggering improvement compared to only 200 individuals in 1992.

The near disappearance of this beautiful species was primarily due to habitat degradation from damming and land development for agricultural purposes, but efforts by the Taiwanese government, the Shei-Pa National Park Administration, and others have brought the fish back from the brink.

Wuling Farm cherry salmon rehabilitation center director Liao Lin-yan (廖林彥) traverses the Qijiawan Creek basin with his team of researchers to get to where the fish are. He says that if they can find the cluster spots, they can accurately calculate the population by counting, measuring size, and assessing the health of the salmon.

After more than 30 years of rehabilitation efforts, extinction has been averted, but continued cooperation from government, industry, and consumers is still needed to o-fish-ially remove the cherry salmon from the IUCN Red List.