Southeast salmon fishermen say they weren’t surprised by the news that the nonprofit Wild Fish Conservancy has launched a fresh effort that could shut down Alaska’s king salmon fisheries.
Last year, Southeast Alaska king salmon troll fisheries were threatened by a lawsuit from the Washington state-based organization in the name of protecting an important food source for Puget Sound killer whales.
The latest threat comes from the conservancy’s announcement that it will seek listing of Alaska king salmon under the protection of the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Alaska fishing organizations are gearing up for another battle to protect their livelihood and the economy of Southeast, said Matt Donohoe, a Sitka troller and president of the Alaska Trollers Association.
“This could affect everything — cruise ships, trawlers, subsistence harvest in Southcentral — not just fishing,” Donohoe said. “ESA listing has a broad effect on all kinds of things, not just harvest.”
In 2020, the nonprofit Wild Fish Conservancy sued the National Marine Fisheries Service to stop the Southeast troll fishery for kings, arguing the fishing is contributing to the decline of the southern resident killer whales by depriving them of the fish that provide a major food source.
After three years of court proceedings, and the possible cancellation of the Southeast summer troll king season last year, the U.S. Court of Appeals said the fishery could open pending the outcome of the case.
The conservancy claims wild chinook stocks are declining and need protection from the Canadian border north to the Aleutian Islands, including watersheds of Southeast, Cook Inlet and Southcentral Alaska.
Donohoe said the claims are inaccurate on several fronts but particularly as they relate to Southeast king salmon stocks.
“It’s an absurd concept but we have to take it seriously because we thought the original lawsuit was absurd and they nearly shut us down,” he said. “There’s no issue with extinction of king salmon anywhere in Southeast. I can’t speak to the Yukon and Kenai rivers, but they have problems.”
He said the trollers association is preparing an action of its own, starting with informing members about the petition seeking an endangered listing and meeting with attorneys on the best way to respond. “We need to find out how seriously to take this,” Donohoe said.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game officials said they are reviewing the petition and will work with the National Marine Fisheries Service to ensure the federal agency has the best information to make a decision. NMFS has up to 90 days to accept or reject the petition for an endangered species listing.
If the agency accepts the petition, it will have a year to review data and decide whether king salmon merit listing as threatened or endangered.
Jeff Farvour, a longtime Sitka troller, said he, too, wasn’t surprised by the conservancy’s latest action.
“They’re obsessed with shutting down our troll fishery,” he said. “They don’t seem interested in working with other groups, fishermen, communities. So, in that way, it doesn’t surprise me, but it’s surprising that they’re so myopic: things like weaponizing the ESA and exploiting an animal in peril like the southern resident killer whale. They should surprise somebody, but they don’t surprise me anymore.”
Reader Comments(0)