The original fishers of Chinook salmon, Southern Resident Orcas, coevolved with their prey hundreds of thousands of years ago. It only took a handful of the massive fish that once weighed up to 100 pounds each, to feed one whale per day. With the dwindling size and population of Chinook, the orcas are struggling for survival. To prevent the loss of both species, Wild Fish Conservancy, a Washington-based nonprofit, has filed a lawsuit in hopes to prevent overfishing by the Southeast Alaskan fishing industry. NOAA’s most recent review of the fishery, the analysis challenged in this lawsuit, concluded that under the existing management and recovery regimes over the last decade, salmon availability has not been sufficient to support SRKW or Chinook population growth. Even though this fishery contributes to that problem, NOAA approved continued harvest by citing speculative and unproven plans to mitigate the harm.
The original fishers of Chinook salmon, Southern Resident Orcas, coevolved with their prey hundreds of thousands of years ago. It only took a handful of the massive fish that once weighed up to 100 pounds each, to feed one whale per day. With the dwindling size and population of Chinook, the orcas are struggling for survival. To prevent the loss of both species, Wild Fish Conservancy, a Washington-based nonprofit, has filed a lawsuit in hopes to prevent overfishing by the Southeast Alaskan fishing industry. NOAA’s most recent review of the fishery, the analysis challenged in this lawsuit, concluded that under the existing management and recovery regimes over the last decade, salmon availability has not been sufficient to support SRKW or Chinook population growth. Even though this fishery contributes to that problem, NOAA approved continued harvest by citing speculative and unproven plans to mitigate the harm.
The original fishers of Chinook salmon, Southern Resident Orcas, coevolved with their prey hundreds of thousands of years ago. It only took a handful of the massive fish that once weighed up to 100 pounds each, to feed one whale per day. With the dwindling size and population of Chinook, the orcas are struggling for survival. To prevent the loss of both species, Wild Fish Conservancy, a Washington-based nonprofit, has filed a lawsuit in hopes to prevent overfishing by the Southeast Alaskan fishing industry. NOAA’s most recent review of the fishery, the analysis challenged in this lawsuit, concluded that under the existing management and recovery regimes over the last decade, salmon availability has not been sufficient to support SRKW or Chinook population growth. Even though this fishery contributes to that problem, NOAA approved continued harvest by citing speculative and unproven plans to mitigate the harm.