A federal appeals court on Friday reversed a judge’s decision that would have effectively shuttered an Alaska salmon fishery, a result environmentalists sought in order to protect endangered whales and threatened wild Chinook salmon populations. A three-judge panel of the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that a judge in Seattle last year abused his discretion by vacating a key authorization issued by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Services for the fishery’s summer and winter Chinook salmon harvests. U.S. District Judge Richard Jones at the urging of the Wild Fish Conservancy had in May 2023 vacated part of a so-called incidental take statement the fisheries service issued in 2019 that authorized the commercial Chinook salmon troll fishery in southeast Alaska. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 10:39
Tag Archives: U.S. District Judge Richard Jones
US appeals court allows Alaska fishery to remain open
Seattle judge’s ruling might cancel Alaska commercial king salmon season
A ruling from a U.S. judge in Seattle could effectively shut down commercial king salmon trolling in Southeast Alaska, a valuable industry that supports some 1,500 fishermen, after a conservation group challenged the harvest as a threat to endangered killer whales that eat the fish. Wild Fish Conservancy, the organization that brought the lawsuit, heralded the decision as the most significant government action in decades to provide more food for starving orcas. But fishing organizations condemned the ruling, saying it threatens the region with economic disaster and would do little or nothing to benefit orcas. The state of Alaska quickly announced an appeal. >click to read< 10:12
