November 10, 2026 — The Washington state nonprofit organization Wild Fish Conservancy released a notice of intent last month to sue the Alaska Department of Fish and Game over alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act.
The organization claims that threatened or endangered king salmon from the Pacific Northwest are being caught in the commercial salmon fisheries of the Alaska Peninsula and Chignik Management Areas — Area M and Area L, respectively — as well as in the commercial and sport fisheries in the Kodiak Management Area.
Emma Helverson is the Wild Fish Conservancy’s executive director. She said a genetic stock report from Fish and Game released earlier this year showed that many king salmon in that region had come from rivers outside Alaska.