By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
The Northern Southeast Regional Aquaculture Association board voted Wednesday to provide up to $75,000 in legal expenses to help fight a lawsuit that threatens to shut down the Southeast troll fisheries, and perhaps others as well, NSRAA staff said.
The 22 members at the board meeting gave unanimous approval to the contribution, said NSRAA general manager Scott Wagner.
The Wild Fish Conservancy, a nonprofit organization, filed a lawsuit in 2020 against the National Marine Fisheries Service aimed at protecting the southern resident killer whales, which spend part of the year in Puget Sound. The WFC is calling for the orcas to have access to an increased share of king salmon originating in the Northwest, a solution that threatens the viability of the troll fishery in Southeast Alaska.
The Sitka Assembly approved $25,000 in city funds toward ATA’s legal expenses, and other Southeast communities, seafood companies, fishermen and other individuals have made donations. The Alaska House of Representatives passed a resolution on a 35-1 vote Wednesday that calls on the federal government to continue to defend Alaska’s fisheries, including the Southeast troll fishery.
The resolution was introduced by Sitka Rep. Rebecca Himschoot, and targets the claims by the WFC in its lawsuit.
“With overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary, this suit seeks to hold the Southeast Alaska troll fishery responsible for the decline in southern resident killer whales, about 1,000 miles to the south,” Himschoot said. “The Southeast troll fishery has been sustainably managed for over a hundred years, and it continues to be today, and I am thankful the Legislature recognizes the importance of this resolution.”
Wagner said eight people other than board members testified in favor of the donation at the NSRAA meeting Wednesday.
He said the lawsuit affects all salmon harvesters.
“If it’s successful against the trollers, there’s other fisheries, sport, seine, gillnet they will target next,” Wagner said. “This particular organization – this is what they do – they file lawsuits and this is their mode of operation.”
ATA board member Jeff Farvour expressed gratitude today for the help with legal expenses from NSRAA.
“Just want to show deep appreciation to NSRAA,” he said. “It’s a great organization. The city also gave strong support. It speaks to how important this is, how much it affects not only the salmon groups but the community at large. It’s a complex issue, but everyone understands how important it is.”
Federal Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson in September 2021 issued a Report and Recommendation finding that the biological opinion governing the Columbia River prey increase program was flawed under federal law, and that the incidental-take statement covering the Southeast king salmon troll fishery “was therefore also legally deficient,” said ATA attorney Douglas Steding. Judge Richard Jones adopted the magistrate judge’s recommendation August 8, 2022.
The NMFS biological opinion says the fishery’s incidental take would be offset by funding production of more Chinook in Washington and Oregon hatcheries to “meaningfully increase” prey availability for the Southern Resident orcas,
Wagner said that in the Pacific Salmon Treaty mitigation process, NSRAA and other salmon producers from Oregon to Alaska work to produce salmon to offset treaty losses and deal with other treaty issues.
“This group (WFC) received treaty mitigation funds to do some work, and then they’re using their funds to try to shut down fisheries that are part of the treaty process,” Wagner said. “There’s definitely some irony and frustration on the fishermen’s part about that.”
A National Fisherman magazine article in February had the following summary highlighting the arguments in the case:
In the lawsuit WFC claims that the NMFS biological opinion did not properly account for the effects the troll fishery had on the southern resident population of killer whales and salmon that spawn in Washington and Oregon, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. WFC blames the fisheries for the decline in Chinook availability, and killer whale populations.
The federal fisheries manager’s biological opinion from 2019 says that the troll Chinook fishery’s incidental take would be offset by funding production of more Chinook in Washington and Oregon hatcheries to meaningfully increase prey availability.
ATA and others arguing against WFC say that factors such as pollution and human population increases on Puget Sound are the more likely causes on the decline of the subject killer whale numbers, and that the Southeast Alaska king salmon troll fishery has no significant impact on the southern resident killer whale populations. Trollers point to thriving killer whale populations that feed on Chinook salmon outside of Puget Sound.
The case is again before U.S. District Court judge Richard Jones, who has recommended the fishery be suspended.
Alaska officials say the state is ready to dedicate resources toward an appeal if Jones rules the fishery be shut down.
