05/13/2026
NMFS announces endangered species listing is not warranted for Chinook in Gulf of Alaska. Alaska Department of Fish & Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang emphasized that biological indicators cited in the petition were grossly inadequate to support an ESA listing. “Failing to meet an escapement goal is not evidence that a stock is at risk of extinction; rather it is a proactive management trigger to ensure stocks are not overfished,” Commissioner Vincent-Lang said. “Alaska takes the decline in Chinook abundance very seriously. That is why we have taken significant management actions to reduce harvest and have invested heavily in research to better understand the causes of reduced productivity of these stocks.”
