Lawsuit: WFC vs. NOAA Fisheries Over Harvest and Harm to ESA-Listed Orcas and Chinook

Complaint filed on March 18,2020 by Wild Fish Conservancy alleging the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is in violation of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for failing to protect Southern Resident killer whales and wild Chinook. The lawsuit alleges the federal agency’s authorization of the Southeast Alaska Chinook troll fishery contributes to the extinction of the endangered population of killer whales found in Puget Sound and much of the US Pacific Coast and of wild Chinook, a conclusion NOAA acknowledges in their own analysis of the fishery.