Group Petitions NOAA Fisheries To List Alaska Chinook Salmon Under ESA; State Says ‘Targeted Attack’ On Alaska
The Wild Fish Conservancy has petitioned NOAA Fisheries to list Alaska king salmon (Chinook) under the Endangered Species Act, saying the fish are in “severe decline and poor condition.”
“For decades, scientists have been sounding the alarm that Alaska’s Chinook are in dire trouble,” Wild Fish Conservancy Executive Director Emma Helverson said. “Despite existing management plans and years of efforts by the state of Alaska, Chinook salmon continue to decline in abundance, size, diversity, and spatial structure throughout the state. Through this action, we are asking the federal government to undertake a formal status review and implement protections warranted under the Endangered Species Act, including designating critical habitat protections, to ensure the survival of these iconic fish.”
Wild Fish Conservancy argued in its petition that Chinook salmon populations in Alaska have dropped significantly in recent years due to mixed-stock commercial and sport fishing, bycatch from industrial trawlers, climate change, logging and mining operations, and competition from hatchery-raised fish.
“Most people are unaware that there are Chinook populations in Alaska in far worse condition than [those] in other parts of the Pacific Northwest that already receive protection under the Endangered Species Act due to their severe condition,” Wild Fish Conservancy Biologist Conrad Gowell said. “Ironically, certifiers and the seafood industry are leading concerned consumers to believe Chinook from Alaska are sustainable, when in fact they are disappearing before our very eyes. No one wants to be eating the last wild Chinook from any river.”
The group is seeking federal protections for the salmon species from the Canadian border north to the Aleutian Islands. Wild Fish Conservancy first announced its intent to seek ESA protections for salmon habitat in May 2023.
SalmonState – an organization that advocates for salmon fishing in Alaska – blasted the petition in a statement.
“With this petition, the Wild Fish Conservancy is doubling down on its attempts to shut down fishing in Alaska without consulting with or speaking to the people they’re sledgehammering,” the organization said. “This petition is an extreme attempt to reallocate wild salmon that, once again, fails to consider or address the actual threats to Chinook. Alaskans and others concerned about wild salmon need to be working together to address threats from habitat degradation, to climate change, to hundreds of thousands of Bering Sea salmon bycaught and killed in Seattle-based trawl nets. Instead, the Wild Fish Conservancy is continuing to attack some of the people who care about wild salmon the most – salmon fishermen – and putting all of Alaska in a defensive position that will ultimately make problems worse instead of better.”
The move to seek ESA protection follows the Wild Fish Conservancy’s legal battle with NOAA Fisheries and the Alaskan state government over the state’s Chinook salmon trolling fishery. The group claims that the commercial harvest is starving killer whales by depleting their prey and has asked courts to shut it down. Only the intervention of a federal appeals court allowed the 2023 summer season to take place.
The petition identifies Chinook populations that use the Gulf of Alaska which includes fish that spawn in the rivers of Southeast Alaska, Cook Inlet, Kodiak, and the Alaska Peninsula.
“This petition is a targeted attack on Alaska by the same organization that sued to shut down the Southeast Alaska troll fishery,” said Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang. “As the resource manager, ADFG is both constitutionally obligated and committed to sustainable fisheries management. The State has taken aggressive management measures to conserve these stocks which have been proving successful. The ESA is the wrong tool to address a downturn in Chinook productivity, and this group is using it as a weapon to further their own interests.”
“Populations of Chinook salmon across their range have been returning in lower numbers in recent years, which in Alaska has been largely attributed to changes in the marine environment. The State of Alaska has invested substantially in marine salmon research to better understand the causes of these declines and identify potential solutions, while continuing to limit fishery impacts on these stocks,” said an ADFG statement.
“The State of Alaska is currently reviewing the petition and will work with the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to the extent allowable to ensure they have the best available information to inform their decision.”
NMFS has up to 90 days to either accept or reject the petition. If its accepted, within a year, the agency will begin a review of Alaska’s king salmon using available scientific and commercial data and decide if that information supports listing the salmon as threatened or endangered and if so, publish a proposed rule to put out for public comment before making a final decision.
For background, see:
— CBB, May 5, 2023, FEDERAL JUDGE’S REJECTION OF NOAA BIOP MAY SHUT DOWN SE ALASKA COMMERCIAL TROLL FISHERY FOR CHINOOK SALMON; ALASKA SEEKS STAY, APPEAL, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/FEDERAL-JUDGE-REJECTION-OF-NOAA-BIOP-MAY-SHUT-DOWN-SE-ALASKA-COMMERCIAL-TROLL-FISHERY-FOR-CHINOOK-SALMON-ALASKA-SEEKS-STAY-APPEAL/
— CBB, January 27, 2023, PENDING COURT DECISION COULD DECIDE FATE OF SE ALASKA CHINOOK TROLLING SEASONS, INCREASED SALMON FOR ENDANGERED KILLER WHALES, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/PENDING-COURT-DECISION-COULD-DECIDE-FATE-OF-SE-ALASKA-CHINOOK-TROLLING-SEASONS-INCREASED-SALMON-FOR-ENDANGERED-KILLER-WHALES/
— CBB, August 11, 2022, FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS NOAA’S APPROVAL OF SOUTHEAST ALASKA TROLL SALMON FISHERY FAILS TO PROTECT ESA-LISTED SALMON, WHALES, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/FEDERAL-JUDGE-SAYS-NOAAS-APPROVAL-OF-SOUTHEAST-ALASKA-TROLL-SALMON-FISHERY-FAILS-TO-PROTECT-ESA-LISTED-SALMON-WHALES/
–CBB, Oct. 21, 2021, FEDERAL JUDGE SAYS NOAA VIOLATED ESA WHEN APPROVING ALASKA SALMON FISHERY; NO CERTAINTY NEW HATCHERIES WILL MITIGATE HARVEST https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/federal-judge-says-noaa-violated-esa-when-approving-alaska-salmon-fishery-no-certainty-new-hatcheries-will-mitigate-harvest/
— CBB, October 14, 2021, WILD FISH ADVOCATES FILE LAWSUIT CHALLENGING WASHINGTON HATCHERY REFORM POLICY CHANGES, INCREASED HATCHERY SALMON FOR ORCAS, HTTPS://CBBULLETIN.COM/WILD-FISH-ADVOCATES-FILE-LAWSUIT-CHALLENGING-WASHINGTON-HATCHERY-REFORM-POLICY-CHANGES-INCREASED-HATCHERY-SALMON-FOR-ORCAS/
–See CBB, April 29, 2021, “NOAA Fisheries Conducting Status Review Of Endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales,” https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/noaa-fisheries-conducting-status-review-of-endangered-southern-resident-killer-whales/
— CBB, March 5, 2021, ESA-LISTED PUGET SOUND KILLER WHALES ONCE RELIED ON NOW ENDANGERED SALMON FOR PREY; PRODUCE MORE HATCHERY FISH TO HELP 75 REMAINING SOUTHERN RESIDENTS? https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/esa-listed-puget-sound-killer-whales-once-relied-on-now-endangered-salmon-for-prey-produce-more-hatchery-fish-to-help-75-remaining-southern-residents/
— CBB, Dec. 17, 2020, CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY ISSUES INTENT TO SUE OVER LACK OF FINAL RULE FOR EXPANDED CRITICAL HABITAT FOR KILLER WHALES https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/center-for-biological-diversity-issues-intent-to-sue-over-lack-of-final-rule-for-expanded-critical-habitat-for-killer-whales/
— CBB, Dec. 11, 2020, GUEST COLUMN: PACIFIC KILLER WHALES ARE DYING — NEW RESEARCH SHOWS WHY https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/guest-column-pacific-killer-whales-are-dying-new-research-shows-why/
— CBB, Jan. 15, 2016, “Study: Chinook Salmon Make Up 80 Percent Of Diet For ESA-Listed Killer Whales In Pacific Northwest” https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/435857.aspx
— CBB, June 27, 2014, NOAA REPORT DETAILS THREATS TO SOUTHERN RESIDENT KILLER WHALES; MAJORITY OF DIET COMES FROM CHINOOK https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/noaa-report-details-threats-to-southern-resident-killer-whales-majority-of-diet-comes-from-chinook/
— CBB, Nov. 21, 2018, “ORCA RECOVERY TASK FORCE RECOMMENDATIONS INCLUDE CONSIDERING REMOVAL OF LOWER SNAKE DAMS” https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/orca-recovery-task-force-recommendations-include-considering-removal-of-lower-snake-dams/
— CBB, September 28, 2018, “Orca Task Force Recommendations Include Focus On Salmon Runs; Non-Native Game Fish To ‘Predatory,’” https://www.www.www.columbiabasinbulletin.org/441561.aspx
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