Getting animals off the list has historically happened in two ways; either the animal has gone extinct or it has been recovered to due to actions outside the ESA. Few, if any, have been recovered because of ESA restrictions. Usually by the time it kicks in it's too late to do much about it.

Whales, grays and rights in particular, were recovered due to international agreements curtailing harvest, not the ESA. Peregrine falcons were recovered due to the actions of a private individual and organization that dedicated themselves to the recovery of falcons (sorry, can't remember who it was). Eagles recovered due to the ban on DDT, which occurred outside the ESA context.

To get fish off the list, particularly in the Columbia River or Puget Sound, will be a tall order indeed. On the Columbia, dams have been there for a while, and will continue to be there. Water withdrawals and irrigation return flows will still occur. Habitat destruction is rampant in the headwaters of all the tributaries. The trees that used to be there are gone. All types of fishers go after Columbia River fish. I'd be amazed to see recovery to the extent that any of those fish are de-listed.

To a certain extent, the same goes for the Puget Sound fish. Much of the problem may be addressed by changing harvest and hatchery programs, but the massive habitat destruction is done and may not be recoverable. No matter how harvest is managed, even if it is banned, which seems like a hell of an idea on PS Chinook, if the rivers are shot, then so are the fish. The trees are gone, and the water is still going. It will take a herculean effort by all the counties and cities on Puget Sound to actually recover the fish, rather than just keep the status quo of low numbers or slow the rate of reduction of numbers.

I don't mean to make it sound like the ESA is worthless, because it's not. It may, or may not, help the listed critters recover. It will, however, incidentally help everything else that depends on the same habitat or lives in the same places as the listed chinook. If harvest is banned on those fish, then hatchery fish returning with them, as well as other salmon species that are around them, will not be harvested either. They are in a position still to increase in numbers. Water quality issues that have to be addressed will benefit all the rivers and all the creatures in them, fishy or otherwise. The trees in watersheds that contain listed fish will be protected, and thus the birds and wildlife that depend on them will be helped out.
This kind of worked the other way around when the spotted owl was listed. Timber harvest was essentially halted on all federal lands, and the rivers that flowed through them were thereby protected.
It will take many years to see what happens.
Keep your fingers crossed, but don't hold your breath.
Fish on...
Todd.