'This letter clarifies what is permissible'

The National Marine Fisheries Service says it's OK for Gulf of Alaska processors to convert "prohibited species catch" into fishmeal and other low-value products for sale.

The agency explains in this letter to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Washington watch

Two senators are questioning the Trump administration's withholding of $246 million in NOAA funding.

Endangered decision coming?

The National Marine Fisheries Service has filed a motion saying it's "engaged in discussions" to possibly settle a lawsuit brought against the agency by the Wild Fish Conservancy.

Could this mean NMFS is ready to decide whether to list Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon under the Endangered Species Act?

Your thoughts on Trump's order

The National Marine Fisheries Service has opened a 45-day public comment period on implementing President Trump's executive order, Restoring American Seafood Competitiveness.

Cook Inlet notes

Here are a couple of items concerning salmon management in the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone.

• Anchorage federal Judge Sharon Gleason has dismissed a driftnetter lawsuit challenging the 2024 federal takeover of salmon fisheries in the EEZ. Here's the judge's 32-page decision and order.

• Eugenio Piñeiro-Soler, head of the National Marine Fisheries Service, is chiding the North Pacific Fishery Management Council for advising it doesn't intend to recommend catch limits for the 2026 Cook Inlet EEZ salmon fishery.

NMFS Alaska loses nearly a quarter of its staff

The National Marine Fisheries Service, Alaska Region, had 115 federal employees on Jan. 1. Now, the count is 87, down 24 percent.

The staff losses are "due to a combination of probationary terminations, the Deferred Resignation Program, Voluntary Early Retirement, and voluntary separations in anticipation of a Reduction in Force," NMFS says in this report to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

The agency names many of the departed folks, saying something nice about each.

Last days for NMFS?

CNN reports the Trump administration's proposed budget "severely defunds" key offices of NOAA including the National Marine Fisheries Service and "transfers most of the fisheries service functions to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which sits under the Interior Department."

NMFS currently is part of the Commerce Department.

A threat to sue

The Wild Fish Conservancy says it will sue the National Marine Fisheries Service for missing the deadline to determine whether Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Here's a press release the organization issued today.

NMFS this week provided an update to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. Here it is:

Chinook Salmon Endangered Species Act Listing Petition Update

On May 24, 2024, NMFS announced a positive 90-day finding on a petition to list Chinook salmon in the GOA as threatened or endangered under the ESA, concluding that it presented substantial information indicating that the petitioned actions may be warranted. We convened a team of federal scientists to review the species’ status and extinction risk, and we invited experts from ADF&G and a tribal member to participate as advisors to the team. The Status Review Team (SRT) is making progress on the analysis and incorporating information from public comments, including an extensive letter from ADF&G and formal tribal consultations. The SRT has preliminarily identified Evolutionarily Significant Units (ESUs) in the GOA and conducted demographic trend analyses at the ESU level. The SRT is compiling information about threats to the species in the region. The SRT will then synthesize the results of the demographic and threats analyses and assign an extinction risk category (low, medium, high) to each ESU. The SRT's analyses and conclusions of the risk assessment workshop will be summarized in a status review report to inform the 12-month finding.

Endangered Chinook?

Public comments are rolling in on a National Marine Fisheries Service finding that listing Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon as threatened or endangered "may be warranted."

The finding was in response to a petition from the Wild Fish Conservancy, a nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington state.

The idea of listing Chinook has raised considerable alarm across Alaska's fishing industry, with many organizations and individuals warning of serious economic damage were such an action actually taken.

NMFS is taking public comment until Sept. 6. You can read all the comments here.

We'll update this post periodically with links to select comments.

Alaska legislators

Alaska Department of Fish and Game

United Fishermen of Alaska

Kenai River Sportfishing Association

Central Council of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska

Wild Fish Conservancy

Alaska resource associations

Alaska Trollers Association

Purse Seine Vessel Owners' Association

Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association

Southeast Alaska Guides Organization

Petersburg Borough

Alaska Marine Conservation Council

Pacific Seafood Processors Association

More legal trouble for trawlers

The environmental group Oceana is suing the National Marine Fisheries Service in Alaska federal court, accusing the agency of failing to protect corals, sponges and seafloor habitat from "the destructive effects of trawling."

Here's a press release from Earthjustice, the law firm representing Oceana.

The state of the industry

The National Marine Fisheries Service is preparing a report in response to "an urgent request from Alaska seafood producers and associations for an independent evaluation of the current state of federal Alaska commercial fishing and seafood markets."

NMFS moves to 'modernize' surveys, cut costs

Deckboss recently posted an industry letter to Congress expressing "urgent concern" about adequate funding for federal fisheries surveys.

Now comes word that the National Marine Fisheries Service is consolidating, reducing and suspending a number of Alaska surveys.

Agency to entertain Chinook listing

The National Marine Fisheries Service announced today that listing of Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon as threatened or endangered "may be warranted."

This is a preliminary, pro forma finding by the agency; we remain far from any actual listing under the Endangered Species Act.

The NMFS announcement comes in response to a petition from the Wild Fish Conservancy, the same organization that's fighting in court to shut down the Southeast Alaska troll Chinook salmon fishery.

Maxing out

The 2023 cost recovery fee percentage for the halibut and sablefish individual fishing quota program is 3 percent.

That's the maximum allowed under law and a big jump from the 2022 fee percentage of 1.9 percent.

What accounts for the increase?

The National Marine Fisheries Service explained in a Dec. 28 notice published in the Federal Register:

Between 2022 and 2023 there was a net increase in management costs and a net decrease in fishery value. Management costs increased by approximately 15 percent while fishery value decreased by approximately 34 percent. The net decrease in value was due to lower ex-vessel prices and landings for both halibut and sablefish IFQ fisheries.

IFQ permit holders must submit their 2023 fee payments to NMFS by Jan. 31.

A threat to weak stocks?

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game is raising significant concerns over the proposed federal takeover of salmon fishing in the Cook Inlet Exclusive Economic Zone.

Facing halibut crackdown, trawlers sue

As expected, a Bering Sea bottom trawl fleet has sued the National Marine Fisheries Service over an action to tighten halibut bycatch limits.

The 17-vessel fleet, operating under the banner Groundfish Forum, contends the NMFS action could cost the fleet in excess of $100 million annually and could bankrupt some vessels.

The suit says Groundfish Forum members are "already being forced to mothball fishing vessels for the 2024 season."

Here's the 42-page lawsuit, filed in Alaska federal court.

What killed the killer whales?

The National Marine Fisheries Service says it has confirmed the cause of death or injury for 11 killer whales taken as bycatch this year in Alaska.

An escalating legal battle

In April, we reported how two prominent Alaska tribal organizations had gone to court to challenge the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands groundfish fisheries. They raise concerns about trawl bycatch of salmon amid ecosystem change.

Since the lawsuit was filed, the case has expanded with new parties jumping in.

The two main Bering Sea trawling organizations, the At-sea Processors Association and United Catcher Boats, have intervened on the side of the defendant, the National Marine Fisheries Service, which manages the groundfish fisheries.

And this past week, five environmental and tribal organizations moved to file an amicus brief in support of the plaintiffs. The group includes the Ocean Conservancy, SalmonState, Native Peoples Action, Kuskokwim River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, and the Alaska Marine Conservation Council.

We probably can expected quite a legal battle here, as this case would appear to represent a very serious challenge to Alaska's trawl industry.

Orca bycatch outbreak

The National Marine Fisheries Service says it is "evaluating data collected on 10 killer whales incidentally caught in Alaska by Bering Sea and Aleutian Island groundfish trawl fisheries in 2023."

In addition, NMFS says a killer whale was caught this summer during a longline survey for sablefish and groundfish.

More details in this agency statement.

NMFS announces salmon task force members

Here's the news release.