Saving Seafood

King salmon populations are dying, simultaneously affecting orcas and local Alaskan communities

March 2, 2024 — Tad Fujioka always had great problem-solving skills. After studying and working as an engineer, he left the field 14 years ago to become a troll fisherman based in Sitka, Alaska.

“If you’re good at solving problems in one environment, that translates directly to another environment,” he told ABC News, adding that there are other benefits to the job. “I love the freedom to follow my instincts, I don’t have to report to a boss, I love being out on the water in a beautiful country.”

Today he’s the chairman of the Seafood Producers Cooperative in Sitka, Alaska, and supports his family by troll fishing on his 31-foot boat, the Sakura. One of the most important types of fish he reels in is king salmon — the largest and most expensive species of salmon in the Pacific.

Read the full article at ABC News

ALASKA: Conservation group petitions for Alaska king salmon to be listed as an endangered species

January 13, 2024 — A Washington-based conservation group filed a petition with federal regulators Wednesday, requesting that they list Alaska king salmon as an endangered species.

The Wild Fish Conservancy argued in its 67-page petition that king, or chinook, salmon numbers have declined to the point where the species is at risk of extinction in Alaska. The group cites state data indicating that the decline has been predominately caused by climate change, habit destruction and hatchery salmon competing for food with wild fish.

The group is asking that the National Marine Fisheries Service formally review king salmon numbers across the Gulf of Alaska, the Aleutian Islands and Southeast Alaska before considering stricter protections. Those could include critical habit protections and expanding ways to protect king salmon smolt — among other measures the group lists.

The petition is a first step in a process that could take years to be resolved with court challenges possible. But legal experts say there could be broad implications if the request is approved to list Alaska king salmon as threatened or endangered under the 1973 Endangered Species Act.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

Dispute about salmon and whales between Alaska and Washington again before federal regulators

October 10, 2023 — The fishing of chinook or king salmon is back on the desk of the National Marine Fisheries Service, part of the whipsaw rulings this past summer that saw the king salmon season shut down — and then reinstated — as a case brought by environmentalists wound its way through the courts.

NMFS issued a notice Wednesday it is beginning work on an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and a review of alternatives to its incidental take statement (ITS). The ITS is the amount of take allowed to occur in compliance with the Endangered Species Act.

NMFS is accepting public comments through noon on Nov. 20, said Gretchen Harrington, assistant regional administrator for the Sustainable Fisheries Division. The EIS is required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA).

The case, Wild Fish Conservancy v. Quan, was filed in U.S. District Court in March 2020. Lawyers for WFC argued fishery managers and representatives of the Pacific Salmon Treaty were ignoring their own research by allowing fishing that harmed the endangered king salmon and the southern resident killer whale population, which feeds on them.

Read the full article at Juneau Empire

Fishing ban may only be one step toward preventing king salmon, orca extinctions

July 25, 2023 — The king salmon population in Alaska has dropped 60% since 1984, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

A lawsuit aiming to curb the extinction of the salmon and orcas through limiting human consumption of the fish recently led to the shutdown of one of the largest fisheries in the world. The Wild Fish Conservancy, who filed the lawsuit, argued that the fate of orcas and king salmon were intertwined — the fish, known for their size and high fat content, are the whales’ preferred meal — and human consumption leaves little of the food source for the 73 remaining resident orcas off the coast of Seattle.

Now, some say halting the fishing of king salmon, also known as Chinook salmon, is only the start of preventing the species’ extinction. The other factor? Climate change.

Regardless whether king salmon are at risk of extinction because of human fishing or climate change, Corby Kummer, executive director of the Food and Society Policy program at the Aspen Institute, told Boston Public Radio the takeaway is the same: “We shouldn’t be catching and eating king salmon, period.”

Read the full article GBH

CALIFORNIA: Businesses affected by salmon season closure asked to report loss

July 10, 2023 — This year, a prolonged drought prompted the closure of recreational and commercial salmon fishing in California and put many fishermen out of a job.

California submitted a request for a Federal Fishery Disaster Declaration to support the salmon fishing industry following the closure of the 2023 salmon season.

“We miss not having California king salmon this year,” said Mark Tognazzini, owner of Dockside Restaurant in Morro Bay. “Our two main dishes are based on California king salmon.”

To help qualify for the disaster declaration, the state is asking affected businesses to fill out a form regarding their losses.

Read the full article at KSBY

ALASKA: NOAA says revised analysis could allow Southeast king salmon troll fishing, despite ruling

June 15, 2023 — The National Marine Fisheries Service hasn’t ruled out the possibility of opening the summer troll season for king salmon in Southeast Alaska, despite a federal judge’s recent ruling to the contrary.

The service’s Alaska regional administrator, Jon Kurland, told a roomful of trollers during a June 7 meeting in Sitka that the agency was working hard to correct the problems identified in the federal lawsuit. The Wild Fish Conservancy in Washington state sued to stop the Southeast Alaska troll season, seeking to protect endangered Southern Resident killer whales’ food sources.

If successful, Southeast trollers might be able to harvest king salmon this summer – if not on the traditional date of July 1, then possibly in August.

To get a feel for the impact of the Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit on Southeast trollers, try sitting in a room filled with them: Grizzled oldsters, seasoned men and women hardened by life on the ocean, well-known fisheries advocates,  young families, and a baby or two.

Read the full article at KTOO

NOAA to trollers: A revised environmental analysis could allow king fishing by August

June 13, 2023 — The National Marine Fisheries Service hasn’t ruled out the possibility of opening the summer troll season for king salmon in Southeast Alaska, despite a federal judge’s recent ruling to the contrary.

During a meeting held Wednesday (6-8-23) in Sitka, NOAA Fisheries Alaska regional administrator, Jon Kurland, told a roomful of trollers that the agency was working hard to correct the problems identified in a federal lawsuit brought by a conservation group in Washington state. If successful, Southeast trollers might be able to harvest king salmon this summer – if not on the traditional date of July 1, then possibly in August.

To get a feel for the impact of the Wild Fish Conservancy lawsuit on Southeast trollers, try sitting in a room filled with them: Grizzled oldsters, seasoned men and women hardened by life on the ocean, well-known fisheries advocates,  young families, and a baby or two.

John Kurland is the regional administrator for fisheries in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which – among other agencies – oversees the National Marine Fisheries Service.

That’s a lengthy title, but Kurland said that he is a neighbor, and he gets it.

“So first off, I know that there’s been just a huge amount of concern about the implications of this suit and the potential for the troll fishery not to be able to open,” Kurland told the room. “I live in Juneau, I have a sense of how important this fishery is for Southeast Alaska for a lot of small businesses, a lot of families, a lot of communities. It’s a big deal.”

Read the full article at Raven Radio

ALASKA: ‘It’ll be a disaster’: Southeast Alaska fishermen fear looming closure of king salmon fishery

June 10, 2023 — More than 100 salmon trollers packed a Sitka meeting Wednesday night with sharp questions about the future of an iconic Southeast Alaska fishery, facing what could be an unprecedented full shutdown of this year’s chinook trolling season.

“I’m optimistic, but I’m also scared as heck,” said Eric Jordan, a lifelong fisherman and resident of trolling stronghold Sitka at the standing room-only meeting with federal National Marine Fisheries Service officials.

The closure of the king salmon fishery in Southeast Alaska would be economically devastating, according to many in the region who rely on the valuable fish for their annual income.

A federal judge in Washington state effectively shut down the fishery in May in response to a lawsuit brought by Wild Fish Conservancy, a Washington organization. The suit contends that the fishery should be closed to protect endangered killer whales in Puget Sound that feed on chinook salmon.

Southeast Alaska’s summer troll fishery would typically open July 1. The state has requested that a federal appeals court decide whether the fishery will open by June 23 to give fishermen time to get ready for the season. But some in the industry say that will already be too late.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is doing “everything we can” to respond to the lawsuit, including work on a new biological opinion that could address some of the Seattle judge’s concerns, said Jon Kurland, the Juneau-based regional administrator for NOAA Fisheries Alaska, at a Wednesday night meeting meant to give trollers a chance to ask questions.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

Southeast Alaska king salmon fishery is in limbo after orca lawsuit rulings and appeals

May 8, 2023 — A federal judge in Washington state issued a ruling this week that threatens to shut down trolling for king salmon in Southeast Alaska this summer.

The ruling comes in a lawsuit filed three years ago by a Washington-based conservation group called Wild Fish Conservancy that aims to protect a small population of orcas.

The lawsuit centers ons whether Alaska fishermen should be allowed to harvest king salmon, which are considered essential prey for the Southern Resident killer whales.

KCAW’s Robert Woolsey has been following the lawsuit from Sitka, in the heart of the Southeast salmon troll fishing region, and says whether the king fishery will be closed this summer remains uncertain.

Read the full article at KTOO