May 21, 2026 — 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.