A ruling from a U.S. judge in Seattle could effectively shut down commercial king salmon trolling in Southeast Alaska — a valuable industry that supports some 1,500 fishermen — after a conservation group challenged the harvest as a threat to endangered killer whales that eat the fish.
Wild Fish Conservancy, the organization that brought the lawsuit, heralded the decision as the most significant government action in decades to provide more food for starving orcas. The group said it would also help recover struggling king salmon populations along the West Coast, as nearly all the salmon caught in Southeast Alaska spawn in rivers to the south.
