NOAA Fisheries Finds ESA Listing Of Gulf Of Alaska Chinook May Be Warranted

Above: Gulf of Alaska river systems where Chinook salmon have been documented are shown in blue. Credit: NOAA Fisheries

In response to a petition to list Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act, NOAA Fisheries has found that listing may be warranted. The agency filed a positive 90-day finding in the Federal Register, which is a threshold determination based mainly on the contents of the petition itself. It triggers a more in-depth review to determine whether listing is warranted.

See the Federal Register notice “Endangered and Threatened Wildlife; 90-Day Finding on a Petition To List Gulf of Alaska Chinook Salmon as Threatened or Endangered Under the Endangered Species Act,” here. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2024/05/24/2024-11381/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-90-day-finding-on-a-petition-to-list-gulf-of-alaska-chinook

On January 11, NOAA Fisheries received a petition from the Wild Fish Conservancy to delineate and list one or more evolutionarily significant units of Chinook salmon in southern Alaska as threatened or endangered. It also requested a critical habitat designation concurrently with the listing.

–CBB, Jan. 18, 2024, GROUP PETITIONS NOAA FISHERIES TO LIST ALASKA CHINOOK SALMON UNDER ESA; STATE SAYS ‘TARGETED ATTACK’ ON ALASKA https://columbiabasinbulletin.org/group-petitions-noaa-fisheries-to-list-alaska-chinook-salmon-under-esa-state-says-targeted-attack-on-alaska/

According to the Conservancy, the petition “encompasses all Chinook populations that enter the marine environment of the Gulf of Alaska.” It “includes all populations on the southern side of the Aleutian Peninsula, Cook Inlet, and the coast of Alaska south of Cook Inlet to the southern end of the Alaska/British Columbia border.”

NOAA Fisheries says it interprets the request as asking to consider populations of Chinook salmon on:

–Southern side of the Alaska Peninsula, including Kodiak Island, Cook Inlet, Prince William Sound

–Gulf of Alaska coastline

–Inside waters of Southeast Alaska to the United States/Canada border

The ESA requires the Secretary of Commerce make a finding within 90 days on whether a petition presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating the petitioned action may be warranted.

To make a 90-day finding on a petition to list a species, NOAA evaluates whether it presents substantial scientific or commercial information indicating the species may be either threatened or endangered. At this stage, the agency does not conduct additional research, or solicit information from outside parties to help evaluate the petition.

“We have reviewed the petition, the literature cited in the petition, and other literature and information available in our files prior to receipt of the petition. We found that the information present in the petition contained numerous factual errors, omissions, incomplete references, and unsupported assertions and conclusions,” said NOAA Fisheries. “Still, we considered missed escapement goals in recent years for many stocks in the petitioned area, and evidence of decreasing size and age at maturity. We concluded that the petition contained enough information for a reasonable person to conclude that the petitioned action may be warranted.”

“With the positive 90-day finding, we are commencing a review of the status of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon to determine whether listing is warranted. We will convene a status review team of federal scientists to begin an in-depth review of the species’ current status and extinction risk. We will include input from non-federal experts by inviting them to participate as guest consultants to the team as part of a broad-based gathering of information,” said the agency.

“The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has tremendous expertise in salmon biology and management in Alaska,” said NOAA Fisheries Alaska Regional Administrator Jon Kurland. “In particular, we will seek technical assistance from our state partners on Chinook biology, genetics, and relevant risk factors.”

The status review team will “collect and analyze the best available scientific and commercial information on the species to evaluate its current status and extinction risk,” including:

–Biology

–Ecology

–Abundance and population trends

–Traditional Knowledge

–Threats to the species

The team will develop a status review report that will undergo peer review, and peer reviewer comments will be made publicly available.

Once the status review is complete, NOAA Fisheries must publish a finding as to whether the petitioned action is warranted within 12 months of receipt of the petition. The finding at the 12-month stage is based on a more thorough review of the available information; a positive 90-day finding does not prejudge the outcome of the status review.

“We are dedicating personnel and resources towards a timely completion,” said the agency. “We expect significant challenges given the vast geographical extent of the petitioned area. There is also potential for numerous distinct populations within that area that will each require a separate analysis of its status and trends.

“After completing the status review and considering ongoing conservation efforts, we will determine whether a listing is warranted and publish the finding in the Federal Register.

“If we determine that a listing of one or more evolutionarily significant units is warranted, we will seek public comments on the proposed listing. We will host public hearings and engage with Tribes to provide multiple opportunities for public engagement and input to inform our final listing decision.”

Alaska Department of Fish And Game called the decision “mind boggling.”

“I am deeply disappointed in the decision by NMFS to issue a positive 90-day finding,” said ADFG Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang. “The petition was clearly drafted by people with little knowledge of Alaska and Alaska salmon stocks. It was rife with significant factual errors, omits important data that are widely available, and does not accurately describe the status of Chinook salmon in Alaska. It is mind boggling that NMFS could make a positive finding based on cherry-picked data to support a pre-determined viewpoint. I am concerned that this decision will encourage more frivolous petitions in the future.”

The state said it is concerned that “NMFS appears to be changing their standards based on a petitioner’s ideology. NMFS bent over backwards to issue a positive 90-day finding on this flawed petition while conversely bending over backwards to issue a negative 90-day finding on a recent ringed seal petition from the State of Alaska and others that was well-prepared.”

Vincent-Lang said NOAA Fisheries “needs to treat all petitions equitably in terms of the bar it uses to justify its decisions. Failure to treat petitions equitably raises questions of whether the decisions are arbitrary and capricious.”

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 noted that it “has invested substantially in marine salmon research to better understand the causes of these declines and identify potential solutions.”

“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” said Vincent-Lang. “Simply failing to meet an escapement goal that is calculated to meet maximum sustained yield does not mean a stock is at risk of extinction. 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.”

U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola, D-AK, said, “While I understand that NOAA has to follow its process, I sincerely hope the regulators and scientists will remember that rural Alaskan communities have relied on and lived alongside these salmon for millennia.

“Our communities are built around fish – listing Gulf of Alaska King Salmon as threatened or endangered risks that long-standing relationship. We can’t ignore the freefall our fishing families are experiencing because of declining salmon runs, but we must manage salmon to have high escapement, and traditional knowledge needs to be incorporated with western science.

“Subsistence fishermen who rely on these salmon to feed their families and communities throughout the winter shouldn’t be left in the cold while this administration and Lower 48 environmentalists take another resource away from Alaskans. The far-reaching, negative impacts of this potential listing underlines how urgently we need to act to protect our fish in more concrete ways, like restricting bottom trawling and reducing bycatch.”

Peltola has introduced the bipartisan Bycatch Reduction and Mitigation Act and the Bottom Trawl Clarity Act. Read more here. https://peltola.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=236

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NOAA Fisheries Finds ESA Listing Of Gulf Of Alaska Chinook May Be Warranted

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