FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 13, 2023
Alaska’s small boat fishermen strongly object to the U.S. District Court’s proposed order to close Southeast Alaska’s winter and summer Chinook fishery
Sitka, AK - On January 10th the Alaska Trollers Association (ATA) filed objections to the proposed order by a Magistrate Judge from the United States Western Washington District Court that would effectively shut down Southeast Alaska’s winter and summer Chinook troll fishing seasons. If adopted by the court, the order would leave thousands of rural Alaska fishermen without their primary source of income for 10 months of the year.
The Wild Fish Conservancy, a Seattle-based organization known for its extreme positions on fish hatcheries and fishery harvest management, has singled out Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery in its lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). The lawsuit challenges NMFS’ Biological Opinion regarding Southeast Alaska’s fisheries and the impact of the fisheries on Washington’s Chinook and Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW).
“No one is more invested in the future sustainability and recovery of Washington’s Chinook than Southeast Alaska’s trollers.” Said Amy Daugherty, the Executive Director of Alaska Trollers Association. “Our livelihoods depend on their survival, which is why we have reduced our Chinook harvest by 44 percent over the past four decades. Science tells us though that cutting harvest is not going to be enough to restore Washington’s local Chinook populations and it will do nothing to help SRKW. SRKW are threatened by urbanization, toxic water pollutants, and noise disturbance. The Chinook are threatened by impassable dams and habitat damage. If the Wild Fish Conservancy really wanted to do something positive for the SRKW and Chinook, they would join forces with our small boat fishermen rather than try to eliminate one of the salmon’s most important allies and stewards.”
On December 13th, the Magistrate for the U.S. Western Washington District Court released a Report and Recommendation with a proposed order that includes temporarily vacating the incidental Take Permit (ITS) that allows Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery to harvest Chinook year-round. NMFS is currently working to revise the Biological Opinion, including the ITS.
ATA’s objections to the Report and Recommendation named two specific problems with the court’s proposed order. First, the court improperly concluded that the declarations of two Southeast Alaska fishery and economics experts were not admissible and accepted WFC’s request to strike the information they had provided. Such testimony is critical to the Court’s understanding of the Troller’s predicament and should be admitted under the liberal standards that govern this type of testimony. ATA has requested Judge Jones consider the dismissed declarations as he evaluates ATA’s objections.
ATA’s second objection was that the Report and Recommendation “illogically and inequitably” concludes that the ITS should be vacated. The Magistrate’s recommendations contradict NMFS conclusion that the ITS would not “appreciably reduce the likelihood of both survival and recovery of Southern Resident killer whales or destroy or adversely modify their designated critical habitat.” ATA argues that Report and Recommendation also fails to explain why the mitigating measures currently in place are insufficient despite the conclusions in the Biological Opinion that state otherwise.
“We hope that the Judge will take a hard look at the facts that trollers and ATA submitted, including the devastating economic, cultural, and generational consequences that would result from shutting down Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery,” said Pelican City Mayor Patty Phillips. “The potential implications of this decision for fishing villages like Pelican and the entire Southeast region are massive.”
For more information contact:
Amy Daugherty alaskatrollers@gmail.com
Jeff Farvour: 907 738-0898