October 8, 2024 — NOAA Fisheries has released documentation that will allow salmon fishing to continue in Southeast Alaska more than a year after a judge attempted to shut down commercial salmon harvesting.
In May 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones ruled that a 2019 biological opinion used to authorize commercial salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska was flawed because it did not adequately consider how fishing would impact southern resident killer whales. In his opinion, the judge removed the fishery’s so-called take statement authorization, effectively ending any commercial salmon fishing operations in the region.