Friday February 17, 2023
KINY —
The Alaska State Legislature’s House Special Committee on Fisheries received testimony and passed a resolution (HJR 5) that calls for state and federal agencies to defend Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery from a potential closure this year due to a lawsuit that a Washington-based organization, the Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC), has filed against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS).
The lawsuit alleges that Alaska’s Chinook troll fishery imperils the Southern Resident Killer Whales and aims to shut the fishery down, leaving nearly 1,500 fishermen without a job.
Alaska’s trollers have intervened in the case, calling attention to the WFC’s misguided claims and the well-documented impacts that habitat loss, water pollution, urbanization, and vessel traffic are having on the Puget Sound’s salmon and orca populations.
The resolution was introduced by freshman legislator Rep Himschoot of Sitka, a sitting member of the House Special Committee on Fisheries.