Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Petersburg Borough Assembly rebukes petition to put Gulf of Alaska king salmon on Endangered Species List

August 28, 2024 — Petersburg’s Borough Assembly voted unanimously to write a letter opposing a move to add Gulf of Alaska king salmon to the Endangered Species List.

In June, the National Marine Fisheries Service found that a petition to list Gulf king salmon as endangered warrants further scientific review. The Washington-based conservation group, Wild Fish Conservancy, authored the petition. The Fisheries Service’s finding is just the first major step in a longer regulatory process, but many say it could have far-reaching implications for Alaska’s fishing industry and coastal communities.

Read the full article at KFSK

9th Circuit Court of Appeals to hear oral arguments on Southeast king salmon troll fishery lawsuit

July 17, 2024 — A panel of federal judges will hear oral arguments on Thursday, July 18, in an appeal of a lower court ruling that threatened to halt the Southeast troll fishery for king salmon.

The Alaska Trollers Association, the State of Alaska, and other entities are appealing a Washington District Court ruling that found NOAA Fisheries violated endangered species and environmental laws. The ruling says they did so by allowing the Southeast trollers to harvest king salmon at rates that harmed a small population of endangered killer whales in Puget Sound, as well as well as several king salmon populations from the lower Columbia River.

That ruling would have effectively stopped Southeast trollers from fishing for kings — at least, until the National Marine Fisheries Service corrects its environmental analysis. But the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay on the lower court order in June of 2023, allowing the fishery to stay open — for now.

The Washington-based conservation group Wild Fish Conservancy filed the initial suit four years ago. The organization’s case rests on the idea that the trollers are intercepting salmon that would otherwise feed the Puget Sound killer whales. The Wild Fish Conservancy has since petitioned the federal government to give Endangered Species Act protections to king salmon across the entire Gulf of Alaska.

Read the full article at KFSK

ALASKA: Southeast Alaska not ready for a hatchery-only king fishery, study finds

May 13, 2024 — Should Southeast Alaska have a hatchery-only king salmon sports fishery? Researchers recently tried to answer that question as a possible solution to a declining number of wild kings.

Chinook or king salmon are the largest and most valuable salmon species. They’re sought-after by sport, commercial, and subsistence fishermen alike. But in recent decades, their harvest has become more restricted as populations plummet. A recent study considered if a new Southeast fishery could help – one that allows sport fishermen to keep only hatchery king salmon and release wild ones.

“And an important question there is could this actually be done within the current management context? And is this something that is desirable for folks in Alaska?” asked Anne Beaudreau, who led the study, which took about a year.

Beaudreau is an associate professor with the University of Washington’s School of Marine and Environmental Affairs. The study was initiated and funded by the Alaska delegation of the Pacific Salmon Commission. Members asked the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to explore the possibility of a hatchery-based sports fishery, and the state then contracted with the university.

As part of the study, Beaudreau helped run several public meetings throughout Southeast. Dozens of people participated.

“We heard a lot of concern brought up at these meetings,” she said.

Read the full article at CoastAlaska

CALIFORNIA: California’s salmon fishing season could face second year of total closure

April 8, 2024 — Fishing regulators are poised to potentially shut down California’s king salmon season for the second time in two years, and just the third time in history.

The Pacific Fisheries Management Council kicked-off its annual meeting in Seattle, Washington where it will determine the upcoming season which normally begins in May. But still feeling the impacts of the recent drought which has decimated the salmon population, the council is considering either closing the season entirely, or allowing extremely limited fishing.

“For the second year in a row we’re looking at very likely a full closure,” anticipated Jared Davis, owner of the Salty Lady charter fishing boat in Sausalito.

Although California has seen two consecutive winters of heavy rains, the issue with the adult salmon has tentacles in the drought. Salmon are on a three-year life cycle and this year’s crop of adult fish were spawned in the grips of the drought. The complete closure of last year’s season was only the second full closure in history and hit the fishing industry hard.

Read the full article at NBC 4

King salmon populations are dying, simultaneously affecting orcas and local Alaskan communities

March 2, 2024 — Tad Fujioka always had great problem-solving skills. After studying and working as an engineer, he left the field 14 years ago to become a troll fisherman based in Sitka, Alaska.

“If you’re good at solving problems in one environment, that translates directly to another environment,” he told ABC News, adding that there are other benefits to the job. “I love the freedom to follow my instincts, I don’t have to report to a boss, I love being out on the water in a beautiful country.”

Today he’s the chairman of the Seafood Producers Cooperative in Sitka, Alaska, and supports his family by troll fishing on his 31-foot boat, the Sakura. One of the most important types of fish he reels in is king salmon — the largest and most expensive species of salmon in the Pacific.

Read the full article at ABC News

ALASKA: Conservation group petitions for Alaska king salmon to be listed as an endangered species

January 13, 2024 — A Washington-based conservation group filed a petition with federal regulators Wednesday, requesting that they list Alaska king salmon as an endangered species.

The Wild Fish Conservancy argued in its 67-page petition that king, or chinook, salmon numbers have declined to the point where the species is at risk of extinction in Alaska. The group cites state data indicating that the decline has been predominately caused by climate change, habit destruction and hatchery salmon competing for food with wild fish.

The group is asking that the National Marine Fisheries Service formally review king salmon numbers across the Gulf of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and Southeast Alaska before considering stricter protections. Those could include critical habit protections and expanding ways to protect king salmon smolt — among other measures the group lists.

The petition is a first step in a process that could take years to be resolved with court challenges possible. But legal experts say there could be broad implications if the request is approved to list Alaska king salmon as threatened or endangered under the 1973 Endangered Species Act.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

Dispute about salmon and whales between Alaska and Washington again before federal regulators

October 10, 2023 — The fishing of chinook or king salmon is back on the desk of the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the whipsaw rulings this past summer that saw the king salmon season shut down — and then reinstated — as a case brought by environmentalists wound its way through the courts.

NMFS issued a notice Wednesday it is beginning work on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and a review of alternatives to its incidental take statement (ITS). The ITS is the amount of take allowed to occur in compliance with the Endangered Species Act.

NMFS is accepting public comments through noon on Nov. 20, said Gretchen Harrington, assistant regional administrator for the Sustainable Fisheries Division. The EIS is required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The case, Wild Fish Conservancy v. Quan, was filed in U.S. District Court in March 2020. Lawyers for WFC argued fishery managers and representatives of the Pacific Salmon Treaty were ignoring their own research by allowing fishing that harmed the endangered king salmon and the southern resident killer whale population, which feeds on them.

Read the full article at Juneau Empire

Fishing ban may only be one step toward preventing king salmon, orca extinctions

July 25, 2023 — The king salmon population in Alaska has dropped 60% since 1984, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

A lawsuit aiming to curb the extinction of the salmon and orcas through limiting human consumption of the fish recently led to the shutdown of one of the largest fisheries in the world. The Wild Fish Conservancy, who filed the lawsuit, argued that the fate of orcas and king salmon were intertwined — the fish, known for their size and high fat content, are the whales’ preferred meal — and human consumption leaves little of the food source for the 73 remaining resident orcas off the coast of Seattle.

Now, some say halting the fishing of king salmon, also known as Chinook salmon, is only the start of preventing the species’ extinction. The other factor? Climate change.

Regardless whether king salmon are at risk of extinction because of human fishing or climate change, Corby Kummer, executive director of the Food and Society Policy program at the Aspen Institute, told Boston Public Radio the takeaway is the same: “We shouldn’t be catching and eating king salmon, period.”

Read the full article GBH

CALIFORNIA: Businesses affected by salmon season closure asked to report loss

July 10, 2023 — This year, a prolonged drought prompted the closure of recreational and commercial salmon fishing in California and put many fishermen out of a job.

California submitted a request for a Federal Fishery Disaster Declaration to support the salmon fishing industry following the closure of the 2023 salmon season.

“We miss not having California king salmon this year,” said Mark Tognazzini, owner of Dockside Restaurant in Morro Bay. “Our two main dishes are based on California king salmon.”

To help qualify for the disaster declaration, the state is asking affected businesses to fill out a form regarding their losses.

Read the full article at KSBY

ALASKA: NOAA says revised analysis could allow Southeast king salmon troll fishing, despite ruling

June 15, 2023 — The National Marine Fisheries Service hasn’t ruled out the possibility of opening the summer troll season for king salmon in Southeast Alaska, despite a federal judge’s recent ruling to the contrary.

The service’s Alaska regional administrator, Jon Kurland, told a roomful of trollers during a June 7 meeting in Sitka that the agency was working hard to correct the problems identified in the federal lawsuit. The Wild Fish Conservancy in Washington state sued to stop the Southeast Alaska troll season, seeking to protect endangered Southern Resident killer whales’ food sources.

If successful, Southeast trollers might be able to harvest king salmon this summer – if not on the traditional date of July 1, then possibly in August.

To get a feel for the impact of the Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit on Southeast trollers, try sitting in a room filled with them: Grizzled oldsters, seasoned men and women hardened by life on the ocean, well-known fisheries advocates,  young families, and a baby or two.

Read the full article at KTOO