Issue: June 2023

A commercial salmon troll fishery in Southeast Alaska that contributes millions of dollars to the regional economy remained uncertain in May, with federal fisheries managers and harvesters pitted against an environmental group that contends endangered orca whales need the fish more. The state of Alaska on May 8 filed an appeal to the U.S. District Court of Western Washington, which ruled just a week earlier than the summer and winter king salmon troll fisheries in Southeast Alaska were in violation of the Endangered Species Act and were depriving endangered Southern Resident killer whales in Puget Sound of fish critical to their survival. U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones ruled in favor of the plaintiff, the Washington State-based Wild Fish Conservancy, in its three-year-old b...

Federal officials are recommending over $265 million in funding for new projects nationwide, including salmon habitat in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington state, to help strengthen climate resilience of coast ecosystems and communities. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said in an April 21 announcement that the projects are supported by the Biden-Harris Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure law, with funds leveraged from the Inflation Reduction Act. NOAA said these projects would reconnect rivers to their historic floodplains, outplant corals to rebuild reefs, build living shorelines to protect coasts from erosion and sea level rise, and more. Beneficiaries identified by NOAA include endangered Southern Resident killer whales by boosting th...

President Joe Biden celebrated his administration’s defense of the Bristol Bay watershed and other environmental achievements during a mid-May gathering at the White House’s Rose Garden with Alaska guests including tribal leaders and conservationists. “Bristol Bay is an extraordinary place, unlike anywhere in the world,” Biden said. “Six rivers meet there, traveling through 40,000 miles of tundra, wetlands and lakes, collecting freshwater and salmon along the way … making this the largest sockeye salmon fishery on all the earth.” The president spoke also of a number of other conservation achievements in ceremonies in the Rose Garden on May 11, while concentrating on the importance of the Southwest Alaska watershed where millions of sockeye salmon are harvested every summer by commercia...

Research led by Oregon State University (OSU) scientists has identified new information on the role that dust plays in nourishing global ocean ecosystems while helping regulate atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. OSU oceanographer Toby Westberry said this is the first time it has been shown that nutrients carried by dust being deposited on the ocean are creating a response in the surface ocean biology. Westberry, the lead author of the study, collaborated with other scientists from OSU, the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country (UMBC) and NASA Goddard Space Flight Center on the research published in the journal Science. Study results released in mid-May revealed the extent and magnitude of the impact of the dust, particles from sources such as soil that are lifted by the wind and t...

Wild Alaska pollock is now on the menu at Climate Pledge Arena for Seattle Kraken hockey games, thanks to a deal struck between the team, Trident Seafoods and the Association of Genuine Alaska Pollock Producers (GAPP). The deal, which was announced by GAPP on April 12, states that new wild Alaska pollock items on the arena menu would include recipes by Molly De Mers, the facility’s executive chef. As part of the partnership, Joe Bundrant, chief executive officer of Trident Seafoods, said his company will reinforce engagement efforts with the goal of supplying more seafood to food banks and feeding centers. “The Seattle Kraken is the 32nd team in the NHL,” Bundrant said. “And we think it’s fitting to increase our donations to reach a lifetime target of donating 32 million servings of f...

Members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council took no action during April meetings regarding amending the fishery management plan for salmon in the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) waters off Cook Inlet. The inaction now puts the decision in the hands of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS). NMFS’ Alaska Regional Administrator Jon Kurland said his agency is now tasked with coming up with a plan to revise that fishery management plan, which was written by the federal fisheries council. Marine Fisheries Service members had intended to amend the salmon plan for management of all salmon fishing in the federal waters of upper Cook Inlet. Federal management must be consistent with the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act, along with the 2016 Ninth Circuit C...