The Washington state nonprofit organization Wild Fish Conservancy released a notice of intent last month to sue the Alaska Department of Fish and Game over alleged violations of the Endangered Species Act.
The organization claims that threatened or endangered king salmon from the Pacific Northwest are being caught in the commercial salmon fisheries of the Alaska Peninsula and Chignik Management Areas — Area M and Area L, respectively — as well as in the commercial and sport fisheries in the Kodiak Management Area.
Emma Helverson is the Wild Fish Conservancy’s executive director. She said a genetic stock report from Fish and Game released earlier this year showed that many king salmon in that region had come from rivers outside Alaska.
“It was mostly assumed from 2012 through the present, that these were fish from Alaska,” Helverson said. “So it’s not a small change. I mean, this is a total flip to find out that most of these fish actually originate from other places.”
The notice of intent called on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and the U.S. Department of Commerce to prepare or amend fishery management plans under the Magnuson-Stevens Act for the South Alaska Peninsula management areas.
It also laid out the intent to sue both the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Department of Commerce for what the Wild Fish Conservancy says are violations of federal laws, including the Magnuson-Stevens Act, the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act.
The agencies have 60 days to act before the conversancy sues.
Dani Evenson is the policy advisor at the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. She says Fish and Game is still reviewing the notice and evaluating its response.
“It is a lot to unpack, and it's hard to say much at this point in time,” she said. “But we'll know more if we receive a lawsuit.”
Evenson said Fish and Game takes its management responsibilities seriously.
“Sustainable management of our natural resources is enshrined in the state constitution, and primacy, the ability to manage our fisheries, was primary driver behind statehood,” she said.
In 2020, the Wild Fish Conservancy sued unsuccessfully to shut down the Southeast Alaska king salmon troll fishery. In 2024, it petitioned the federal government to list Gulf of Alaska chinook under the Endangered Species Act. Earlier this year, the National Marine Fisheries Service found that listing unwarranted.
