The United States Court for the Ninth Circuit on Wednesday halted implementation of a Washington state district court ruling that would have closed the southeast Alaska king salmon troll fishery this summer and winter, bringing with it potential economic devastation to local fishing communities that rely on the fishery. Fishing is now set to begin July 1.
The court placed a stay on the district court's ruling Wednesday. The ruling came from a lawsuit filed by the NGO Wild Fish Conservancy that said the fishery should be closed because it violates the US Endangered Species Act by potentially impacting a food source for resident killer whales.
Alaska lawmakers and fishery regulators celebrated the outcome, with Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy and Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang weighing in.
“The Ninth Circuit got it right when it found that Alaska’s fishing interests outweighed the 'speculative environmental threats,'" Dunleavy said.
On June 9, the Alaska Trollers Association (ATA) filed a nearly 700-page response to the Ninth Circuit court over the closure of the southeast king troll fishery.
The Juneau-based nonprofit commercial trade organization, created in 1925, has approximately 450 members that derive their livelihoods from the Southeast Alaska troll fishery.
The group said the nonprofit "continues to single out the trollers of southeast Alaska as a solution" to the problems facing southern resident killer whales "while attempting to superimpose its policy preferences against fish hatcheries over the international management structure for chinook salmon."
It cites, among several other points, that the closure violates the the Pacific Salmon Treaty agreement. The treaty was first ratified in 1985 between the United States and Canada and represents cooperative management of salmon fisheries in the federal waters of both nations to enhance Pacific salmon stocks of mutual concern, including king salmon.
That treaty, the group contends, says the state of Alaska has authority over what happens to southeast Alaska fisheries in federal waters.
ATA's concerns have been echoed by Alaska lawmakers, city officials and Alaska tribes, who are also asking the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals to suspend the Washington state ruling, stating it opens up the potential for "future misdirected or malicious lawsuits" against Alaska fisheries with far-reaching consequences.
The troll fleet is one of the largest fleets in the state and the largest fleet in Southeast Alaska. State residents comprise 85 percent of the state's commercial troll permit holders, making it the highest level of local ownership of any major fishery in the state.
“This has been an extremely challenging time for all of us. But thankfully, with the state’s help and the Tribes recent declarations and our delegation, we have alerted the court to the disastrous consequences of a summer in southeast without trolling," said Alaska Troller Association Executive Director Amy Daugherty of the Ninth Circuit Court's decision.
Washington state-based NGO Wild Fish Conservancy still intends to file a petition under the federal Endangered Species Act to list and designate critical habitat for king salmon in some parts of Alaska.
King salmon have been returning in fewer numbers to many rivers across Alaska since 2007, requiring painful restrictions on fisheries that harvest these stocks, according to ADF&G.
While that petition has not been formally filed, it sets a dangerous precedent for using the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as a tool to deal with a stock that faces "low productivity," Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lange, told IntraFish.
