Federal fisheries managers have determined that Gulf of Alaska king salmon are at low risk of extinction and don’t need to be listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

The decision, announced May 13, results from a more than two-year study of Alaska chinook — including Southeast stocks — by a team of National Marine Fisheries Service scientists, with input from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game as well as leaders of Alaska tribal governments and the public.

NMFS launched the review after the Wild Fish Conservancy, a Washington-based nonprofit, in January 2024 filed an Endangered Species Act petition, asking the fisheries service to list all Gulf of Alaska chinook stocks as endangered.

The conservation group pointed to long-term declines in king salmon numbers in Alaska.

A U.S. District Court judge in Washington, D.C., approved a settlement which ordered federal fisheries managers to issue a decision on the endangered petition by May 13.

Alaska fisheries managers, fishing industry leaders, fishermen and municipal governments have been united in strong opposition to the petition.

If the listing had been approved, it could have resulted in new limits on development in Alaska as well as major restrictions on commercial, sport and personal-use fishing in the state.

The conservancy’s 2024 petition stated that king salmon are threatened due to habitat destruction, commercial overutilization and other factors.

In May 2024, during the administration of President Joe Biden, NMFS accepted the conservancy's petition by issuing a “90-day finding” stating that the proposed listings “may be warranted,” based on the information the agency had at the time.

A two-year review culminated with the 402-page “Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon status review,” released May 13. NMFS announced that ESA listing is “not warranted” for any chinook stocks.

Emma Helverson, executive director of Wild Fish Conservancy, said in an email to the Alaska Beacon: “The scale and geographic extent of the crisis facing chinook across the Gulf of Alaska make this conclusion deserving of careful scrutiny. We are reviewing both the agency’s scientific conclusions and the legal framework underlying this decision before determining next steps.”

NMFS identified three distinct chinook units in the Gulf of Alaska: Southeast (east of Cape Fairweather); Central (from Cape Fairweather through Cordova); and Northwest (from Cook Inlet, the Kenai Peninsula and the South Alaska Peninsula).

“All three Gulf of Alaska chinook salmon units are at low risk of extinction,” the federal agency stated in the status review.

Regarding the Southeast unit, however, the agency noted “recent declines in estimated total run size and spawning escapements for several stocks,” particularly since the early 2000s and 2010s.

“Escapement has decreased in systems such as the Chilkat, Unuk, King Salmon, Stikine and Taku rivers, but these declines generally remain within the scope of historical variability,” the review states. “Some stocks, including King Salmon, Taku and Chilkat rivers, have shown early signs of recovery in recent years.”

Changing environmental conditions are the most significant threat to the Southeast, Central and Northwest Gulf of Alaska chinook units, the review determined.