NOAA Fisheries has released documentation that will allow salmon fishing to continue in Southeast Alaska more than a year after a judge attempted to shut down commercial salmon harvesting.
In May 2023, U.S. District Court Judge Richard Jones ruled that a 2019 biological opinion used to authorize commercial salmon fishing in Southeast Alaska was flawed because it did not adequately consider how fishing would impact southern resident killer whales. In his opinion, the judge removed the fishery’s so-called take statement authorization, effectively ending any commercial salmon fishing operations in the region.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, based in San Francisco, California, U.S.A., ultimately restored the take statement authorization before the salmon season was canceled and released an unpublished opinion in August 2024 stating that Jones had erred in not taking into account the economic consequences of his action.
Still, the court required NOAA Fisheries to issue a corrected biological opinion and environmental impact statement, which the agency has now done.
“We are grateful to NOAA Fisheries for completing these documents ahead of the court-mandated deadline which allows Southeast Alaska salmon fisheries to continue uninterrupted,” the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) said in a statement.
The department noted that while the opinion is lengthy, an initial review suggests Southeast Alaska salmon fisheries will be able to continue operating as it has in the past.
“The AFDG was not part of the team that finalized the rules within these documents,” the department noted. “That said, based on our preliminary review, the new rules do not fundamentally alter the status quo for Southeast Alaska salmon fisheries. The AFDG and Department of Law are still reviewing the lengthy documents.”
Public review of the updated biological opinion will be open through 4 November.
