May 16, 2025 — Alaska fishery advocates are speaking out against a lawsuit filed last week by the Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC), arguing that the legal action will hinder — not help — efforts to protect the state’s salmon populations.
The lawsuit, filed on May 8 against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, seeks to compel faster action on a petition to list Gulf of Alaska Chinook — also known as king salmon — under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
On January 11, 2024, WFC petitioned NOAA to grant ESA protections to Chinook salmon from rivers flowing into the Gulf of Alaska. NOAA issued a positive 90-day finding on May 24, confirming the petition presented substantial information that protections may be warranted, triggering a year-long review and public input process. Under the ESA, NOAA had until January 11, 2025, to decide whether Gulf of Alaska Chinook should be listed as threatened or endangered. Now, WFS is suing NOAA for missing this deadline, citing further delays in protections for declining Chinook populations at risk of extinction.
“It should not take a lawsuit to make the federal government uphold its legal responsibility, but with the crisis facing Alaskan Chinook, we are out of time and options,” said Emma Helverson, WFC’s executive director. “The Endangered Species Act sets clear deadlines for a reason, to evaluate the risk of extinction and trigger action while recovery is still possible. By ignoring those deadlines, NOAA isn’t just breaking the law — it’s perpetuating the collapse of Alaskan Chinook and threatening the ecosystems and communities that depend on them.”