Conservancy takes its ESA campaign to court

Making good on a threat, the Wild Fish Conservancy has sued the National Marine Fisheries Service, saying the agency has missed the deadline to decide whether Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Are Alaska Chinook really endangered?

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game has written a briefing paper questioning the Endangered Species Act review of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon and spelling out the serious consequences of a listing.

More time, please

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is joining the state in requesting more time for public comment on an Endangered Species Act review of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon. Here's the letter.

Activists seek listing for Alaska Chinook

The Wild Fish Conservancy, which has been fighting in court to shut down the Southeast Alaska troll fishery, is now petitioning to list Alaska Chinook salmon under the Endangered Species Act.

Trouble for trawlers?

The National Marine Fisheries Service is reinitiating Endangered Species Act consultation to evaluate effects of Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska groundfish fisheries on listed species and critical habitat.

Feds see no need for Southeast herring protection

Listing Southeast Alaska herring under the Endangered Species Act is "not warranted at this time," the National Marine Fisheries Service has concluded.

Since 1980, herring in Southeast have shown positive trends in abundance, growth rate and productivity, the agency says.

Here's the press release.

Endangered coral? NMFS says nope

The National Marine Fisheries Service has shot down a petition to list 44 coral species off Alaska as threatened or endangered. More here.

Activists aim to protect 'stunning' Alaska coral

The Center for Biological Diversity is petitioning the federal government to protect Alaska coral under the Endangered Species Act.

"Human impacts on cold-water corals are devastating, in particular the destructive fisheries practices that can wipe out many square miles of coral habitat in a single day," the center says.

Trawls, longlines and pots can all damage coral, but "the greatest threat" is climate change, the group says.

The nonprofit organization, based in Tucson, Ariz., says Alaska corals "occur in greatest abundance and variety a few miles off the Aleutian Islands, in underwater canyons in the Bering Sea, and on the slopes of submerged volcanoes in the Gulf of Alaska."