Conservation advocacy group Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) plans to sue NOAA Fisheries after the agency missed deadlines for responding to its petition seeking Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections for Chinook salmon in Alaska.
WFC announced in January 2024 that it was petitioning the government to implement protections for the species due to “the severe decline and poor condition of Chinook populations” in Alaska. WFC listed several factors contributing to the fish population’s drastic decline, including mixed-stock commercial and sport fishing, bycatch from industrial trawlers, climate change, logging and mining operations, and competition from hatchery-raised fish.
“Over the last year, Native communities and Alaskans participating in the listing review process have expressed relief and optimism that this comprehensive analysis is finally taking place to address the decline of the local Chinook populations they work so hard to protect,” WFC Executive Director Emma Helverson said in a statement. “It is clear Alaskan communities want answers and are ready to begin implementing solutions through the recovery planning process. Tangible actions, additional resources, and stronger protections are what these fish and the communities who depend on them desperately need.”
NOAA is required to complete a review of such petitions within a year, but WFC claims NOAA fisheries said it needed more time and would not meet the legally mandated deadline.
“The public should not have to take legal action to compel federal agencies to follow the law, but the dire crisis facing Alaska’s Chinook populations leaves us no other choice,” Helverson said. “These aren’t arbitrary timelines or bureaucratic red tape, they are essential safeguards to prevent extinction. NOAA isn’t just missing a deadline; it’s pushing Alaskan Chinook closer to extinction and starving the ecosystems and communities that rely on them.”
NOAA has missed similar deadlines for ESA petitions for fish in the past, which WFC views as ...
