Wednesday June 14, 2023
SeafoodSource —
After successfully closing the chinook salmon trolling fishery in the southeast of the U.S. state of Alaska with a lawsuit, the Wild Fish Conservancy plans to petition the federal government to protect the region’s chinook salmon habitat under the Endangered Species Act.
According to a 24 May letter sent by WFC to Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang, the group plans to file a petition seeking protection for chinook salmon habitat in Southeast Alaska after 30 days.
Vincent-Lang told SeafoodSource that since there is no petition filed yet, it’s not clear which chinook stocks WFC plans to get listed. Even so, he expressed confidence that state policies are effective in managing stocks and no chinook salmon stocks are in danger of extinction.
“The state does not believe that any Alaskan chinook salmon stocks are endangered or threatened with extinction in the foreseeable future. We have a constitutional obligation to manage for sustained yield,” Vincent-Lang said, pointing to Alaska’s sustainable salmon fisheries policy.