The ruling by a three-judge 9th Circuit Court panel means the summer chinook, or king, salmon season will start as usual next week for an industry that supports some 1,500 fishery workers in southeast Alaska.
The conservation group said it would help provide more food for starving whales and help struggling king salmon populations along the West Coast, since most of the salmon caught in southeast Alaska spawn in rivers to the south. “It’s a big, big relief for me and all the trollers and all the people in the southeast who depend on the troll fishery,” Fujioka said. “In small villages trolling is one of the few things that you can do that provides year-round employment.”About a third of southeast Alaska trollers are citizens of Native tribes who use traditional knowledge to support their families and commuities, according to a brief filed with the appeals court Friday by 16 tribes and two other Native organizations.
“It’s great that the court recognized the irreparable harm this frivolous lawsuit would have on hardworking fishermen who have done nothing wrong,” he said. “It is patently ridiculous to believe a small boat, hook and line troll salmon fishery hundreds of miles away from Puget Sound is having more of an impact on the sustainability of Puget Sound orca whales than toxins, pollution, noise and vessel traffic in their own backyard.