A petition to put king salmon on the endangered species list is raising alarm across Alaska

The federal government is considering a request that would give protection from the law to the endangered Gulf of Alaska king salmon. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service recently revealed that a petition from the Washington-based conservation group Wild Fish Conservancy, which said the species is under threat, requires further scientific review. It’s just the first big step in a longer regulatory process, but many say it could have far-reaching implications.

Mark Roberts is docked in Petersburg, getting his fishing boat ready for the King Salmon opening on July 1st. He is painting the exterior of Cape Cross, his 46-foot troll boat, which was built in 1948.

Roberts took a break from fishing for a few months because he had just had one of his heart valves replaced. But he said he is working through the pain this summer because it would be financially impossible for him to sit out an entire season.

“Because of my heart condition… Well, I paid for it. I have to work twice this year. But, you know, I’m putting it back together. I just need the sunshine!” said Roberts, gesturing toward the rainy sky over Petersburg.

Roberts has been fishing in the Gulf of Alaska for about 30 years. But he came LOT came close to skipping the entire summer season last year when the Wild Fish Conservancy sued NOAA to stop commercial trolling for kings in Southeast Alaska. The conservation group, which is based in Washington, argued that a closure would protect a declining population of killer whales near Seattle. The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals issued a stay of the lawsuit, keeping the fishery open.

“I was basically ready to tie my boat to the dock and not fish until August,” Roberts said. “But as soon as they announced it… Boy. I started the engine, took off and went fishing and I was very grateful for that.”

That litigation is ongoing. But now, Roberts is staring down the barrel of another move against the king salmon fishery by the same group that filed a petition to list the fish with Endangered Species Act protections in January. NOAA announced that it will move forward with its regulatory process to review the request in late May.

The request could have a big impact on how Alaskans fish across the board all Abyss. The petition seeks protection for an area more than a thousand miles wide—or, just slightly longer than the distance from New York City to Orlando, Florida.

Roberts said it feels like another attack on his fishery, which he considers to be low-impact and sustainably managed.

“I want the salmon to come back too, and so it really amazes me that these people are coming after us when we already have.” ARE doing things to bring salmon back,” Roberts said. “It’s going to hurt everybody. It really surprises me that they’re coming after us the way they are.”

But Emma Helverson, director of the Wild Fish Conservancy, said it’s not personal. She said the petition echoes feedback from many people across the state who fear the resource won’t be available for future generations.

“(There are) people across the state who probably aren’t even sure how they feel about the protections of the Endangered Species Act,” Helverson said. “But they’re seeing these problems and they know something has to change.”

Helverson has heard from Alaskans like Willard Lind. He is a citizen of the Chignik Lake Tribe and has lived near the Chignik River, on the Alaska Peninsula, for all of his 63 years.

Salmon runs collapsed in Chignik in 2018. Sockeye salmon are slowly returning to the river, but kings are still few and far between.

Lind said he wants king fishing to stop — even in Southeast Alaska, hundreds of miles away.

“When I was a kid, the river was loaded with kings, man,” Lind said. “Holy cow – they’d be swarming everywhere. But you don’t see a king in a shallow waterhole anymore these days. I’m all for what they’re trying to do there, with the petition to stop these kingfishers .I hope it passes.”

However, not all conservation groups are on board with the Wild Fish Conservancy’s request. For example, the Alaska-based environmental group Salmon State has come out against it.

Tim Bristol, executive director of Salmon State, has his eye on the decline. But he said an Endangered Species Act petition is not the right tool for the situation and that the move will alienate fishermen who are also sympathetic to the plight of king salmon.

“Honestly, it really concerns us, as longtime conservatives, to see the Endangered Species Act being used in a way that I don’t think is appropriate,” Bristol said. “And it’s obviously going to cause all kinds of blowback from thoughtful people who probably support the ESA. But it definitely moves them into the opposition category when you start using it.”

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game, which manages all king salmon stocks in the state, has also been one of the most vocal critics of the petition. Doug Vincent-Lang is the commissioner of the department.

“It was really, of all the petitions I’ve ever seen come in for a listing of a species — by far the most poorly written petition I’ve ever seen,” Vincent-Lang said.

The National Marine Fisheries Service noted in its findings that while the petition contained numerous factual errors and unsupported conclusions, the numbers were troubling.

Vincent-Lang said if the petition moves forward, it will effectively federalize the management of king salmon as a resource in Alaska.

And, he said, if king salmon are endangered, the federal government will have to create what’s called “critical habitat.” Which means any river or lake in Alaska where spawning king salmon may be subject to even more federal oversight.

“This (has) pretty far-reaching implications in terms of how salmon, or king salmon, can potentially be managed in the future,” Vincent-Lang said.

But the commissioner is not the only one thinking about the future. The Metlakatla Indian Tribe in Southeast Alaska recently reopened the doors of their century-old cannery, Annette Island Packing Company, to purchase king salmon.

Albert Smith, mayor of Metlakatla, said the tribe has always survived on king salmon. It has been part of their way of life since the beginning.

“Especially now, with how much it costs to go to the grocery store,” he said.

The Wild Fish Conservancy acknowledges the criticism leveled against the petition. But Helverson, director of the Wild Fish Conservancy, said that regardless, the process will generate data that could lead to significant localized recovery for king salmon. But it’s likely that if Alaskan kings make the list, protections will be applied in a piecemeal fashion in specific locations across the Gulf.

The National Marine Fisheries Service’s findings will trigger a more rigorous scientific review, and the public has until July 23 to share their thoughts on the possible endangered species list.