Recent News Posts
Latest News:
Short Letter on Motion in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals – June 19, 2023
Trollers,
With so much discussion on whether the Troll Chinook fishery will open on July 1st it’s important to remember that ATA, the State, and NOAA have filed a Motion in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. This Motion asks the Court to Stay (stop) the Order from the Western District Court of Washington pending appeal.
The Western District Court’s order shuts down our King Salmon fishery. A Stay would allow us to fish Kings this year. We, the Defendants (NOAA, Alaska, ATA), have asked the Court for a Decision on the Motion by June 23rd which is this Friday.
We are still expecting the Court’s Decision on this by Friday. We have no idea what that Decision will be but I live in hope.
Matthew Donohoe
ATA President
More News Posts…
- Legal Update on the WFC Efforts (March 2, 2024)
- New Video Call Link Info: NMFS will talk to trollers in Sitka, June 7th (June 6, 2023)
- ADF&G: Southeast Alaska/Yakutat Summer Troll Fishery (May 31, 2023)
- Where we are now 5/27/23 (May 27, 2023)
- Coho and Chum Troll fisheries will Proceed as usual this year (May 6, 2023)
- Press Statements from the State of Alaska (May 3, 2023)
- ATA Press Release in Response to Judge Jones May 2nd Decision (May 2, 2023)
- HJR 5 passed the Alaska State Legislature 3/20/23 and will be on the Governor’s desk soon. (March 22, 2023)
- HJR 5 moved out of the Senate Resources Committee 3/14/23 and will soon be voted on, on the Senate Floor (March 15, 2023)
- LAWSUIT UPDATE: (March 14, 2023)
- HJR 5 passed the State House of Representatives 3/2/23 and is now awaiting committee assignment in the State Senate (March 4, 2023)
- ATA Legal Fund Contributors From: Municipalities, Businesses and Organization (March 4, 2023)
- LAWSUIT UPDATE: From Alaska Trollers Association and Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (February 20, 2023)
- House Joint Resolution 5 moves out of Alaska House Fisheries Committee supporting protection of Southeast Alaska’s troll fishery (February 17, 2023)
- Action Alert (January 26, 2023)
- ATA Attorney’s Update on WFC Lawsuit (January 6, 2023)
- More Information on the WFC Lawsuit (January 6, 2023)
- From ADFG on the WFC Lawsuit (January 5, 2023)
- What the heck is going on with the WFC Lawsuit? (January 2, 2023)
- From ATA regarding WFC’s objections to the magistrate’s findings. (June 30, 2020)
- NMFS response to WFC objection (June 30, 2020)
- WFC’s Objections on Injunction Denial (June 18, 2020)
- Injunction Denied by Magistrate of the District Court (June 9, 2020)
We just got word that the magistrate who is tasked with producing a findings & recommendations report for the district court judge in Seattle, has just recommended that the injunction not occur. So this is great news…but we are far from out of the woods, so to speak…presuming the judge accepts the magistrate’s recommendation, we still have the main lawsuit to contend with. So this is by no means resolved for us, it just looks good for the short term. - WFC Lawsuit Update (May 25, 2020)
The oral arguments on injunction will happen this Thursday, 5/28, will only pertain to jurisdiction, e.g, the 30 day window allowed in MSA was not honored and, secondly, the WFC’s ability to file in this matter since it is outside of their specified organizational charter. We will post the outcome of this hearing on this website as soon as we know.. - No Word on the Troll Injunction Yet (May 16, 2020)
We receive many inquiries on the outcome of our legal efforts regarding the WFC lawsuit and particularly regarding the injunction effective July 1. ATA filed Monday 5/10 as anticipated and NMFS filed Friday 5/15 as scheduled. Next, the Magistrate will review our statements and affidavits, and consider all of the information provided. Then the judge will do so as well. This may take several weeks. We will post the Judge’s decision on the injunction immediately as soon as we hear anything on this.
Thanks for your patience. - ATA is Intervening on the Wild Fish Conservancy Lawsuit (April 21, 2020)
In a unanimous vote last night, the ATA board voted to insert itself into the defense of the lawsuit filed in mid-March and its subsequent injunction against King salmon fishing via NMFS, and the troll fishery specifically. Becoming an intervenor is important to ensure that the interest of our membership is represented and our way of life is protected.
While we also rely on the involvement of NMFS and ADFG, we are confident that hiring Thane Tienson of Portland, OR, will produce the best outcome for trollers. Thane has extensive background, over 40 years, successfully defending many commercial fishing interest in ESA-related matters. His firm currently represents the Coastal Trollers in a similar lawsuit.
This frivolous lawsuit puts the short and long term future of our coastal communities and our small fishery businesses at serious risk. ATA is stepping up to the plate on behalf of SE Alaska economy, all power and hand trollers, and all commercial interests that harvest king salmon. ATA just happens to be the target this time.
We have a lot of fundraising to do. The ATA board and staff had zero opportunity to fundraise before hiring an attorney so we are doing so simultaneously. Please “dig deep” and donate to our legal fund now. WFC is doing just that now.
Go to: www.aktrollers.org to find our paypal button or send a check to ATA, 130 Seward Street # 205, Juneau, AK 99801. We can also take credit cards over the phone. - ATA Press Release: Injunction on SE Chinook Trolling Filed by Wild Fish Conservancy (April 17, 2020)
An injunction to halt all King salmon trolling effective July 1, 2020 was filed yesterday in federal court by Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC). This action was added on top of the WFC lawsuit brought against NMFS which names troll interception as the cause of nutritional deficiencies of Southern Resident Killer Whales (SKRW). It is both disheartening and surprising that this Washington group has overlooked the dams, habitat degradation, and toxic pollution in their own backyard and instead focus their attacks on a sustainable hook and line salmon fishery over a thousand miles away.
Instead of focusing on their problems at home in Washington State, the WFC wants to shut down the lowest impact fishery on the water and arguably the most economically important fishery for small coastal communities. Here in Southeast Alaska we have pristine, abundant waters that nourish the salmon we catch and we pride ourselves in the careful fisheries management that has allowed the troll fishery to sustainably exist for almost a century and a half. Our hook and line fishery catches one fish at a time during tightly regulated openings. Since in recent years we have harvested but a small fraction of our historical Chinook catch, the timing and motivation of the WFC lawsuit is very suspect.
In every round of Pacific Salmon Treaty negotiations we have taken significant cuts: 35% in 1999, 15% in 2009, and at least another 7.5% a year ago. New provisions renegotiated in the last Pacific Salmon Treaty between the United States and Canada cut back catches of Chinook salmon throughout their migration routes specifically expecting to increase prey available to the SRKW. The new agreement also invests millions of dollars in additional chinook hatchery production and habitat restoration to support salmon and SRKW recovery. These brutal Treaty negotiations are all about conservation although here in Alaska we have not dammed our salmon producing rivers, allowed toxic fish farming or seen the population growth that Puget Sound has and that has resulted in decimated SRKW habitat.
Eliminating the tiny Chinook harvest in Southeast Alaska will not reduce the toxicity level in Puget Sound and greater Seattle area; the undeniable source of “peanuthead” offspring. Alaska Trollers Association (ATA) believes the threat on the SRKW population is from Washington State dams, pollution produced by Washington’s disease ridden fish farms and from the industrial waste of America’s fastest growing metropolis. The Rainforestsite, another Puget Sound environmental group, stated “Our Southern Resident Orca whales have some of the highest overall toxic loads and, in particular, highest PCB levels of any marine mammals anywhere in the world.” Connections between PCBs and birth defects are well documented.
The SRKW decline traces back to 1962 to 1976 when the State of Washington allowed the capture of 270 sexually mature SRKW for marine parks such as Sea World. This harvest of SRKW led to the creation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service’s statement that “the capture of killer whales for public display during the 1970s likely depressed their population size and altered the population characteristics sufficiently to severely affect their reproduction and persistence.” Alaska’s trollers should not be held accountable for the multitude of bad decisions and continued environmental degradation threatening this population.
Trolling has sustained our coastal community economies for nearly a century and a half – our harvest data goes back to 1911 – and we are regulated conservatively. The “no jeopardy” biological opinion under the ESA for SEAK Chinook fisheries was vetted appropriately and with knowledge of the resource and our impacts on it. We commend both agencies, NMFS and ADFG, for their defensive stance on this. ATA supports science based, effective and equitable conservation.
For more information, or to donate to the ATA legal fund, go to the website www.aktrollers.org
Contact: Amy Daugherty
Executive Director, ATA
(907) 957-8004