Alaska Salmon Won’t Get Federal Protections as Fisheries Decline

The Trump administration is declining to list as threatened or endangered three populations of Chinook salmon that could conflict with logging, mining, and other development in southeast Alaska, according to a Wednesday notice.

The decision reverses a Biden administration recommendation that the salmon be protected under the Endangered Species Act. It also comes after the Trump administration in March exempted oil and gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico from ESA requirements.

The National Marine Fisheries Service announced the decision in a 12-month finding on the Wild Fish Conservancy’s petition to list the salmon under the ESA. The US District Court for the District of Columbia approved a settlement in February requiring NMFS to reach a decision by May 13 in litigation filed by the conservancy.

Salmon runs have been devastated in recent years as fisheries have closed during a period of poor productivity, the conservancy said in March. Alaska officials have imposed numerous closures to salmon fisheries in the region recently due to low numbers and salmon run forecasts showing low productivity.

The NMFS issued a finding in 2024 that suggested Chinook salmon population numbers in the Gulf of Alaska have fallen enough due to climate change and other factors to warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act. The agency in its latest finding said oil and gas extraction, logging, and other industrial activities and land uses pose little threat to the salmon, which remain abundant throughout the Gulf of Alaska.

The populations of “Chinook salmon are not in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their ranges, nor likely to become so within the foreseeable future,” the agency said in the Federal Register pre-publication notice.

The Wild Fish Conservancy didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday, but said in March that federal protections are essential to maintaining salmon fisheries in Alaska.

“Declining runs are already forcing repeated closures and creating real economic and social strain for fishing families and coastal communities,” Emma Helverson, the conservancy’s executive director, said in a March statement. “The longer these declines continue, the more severe those consequences will become.”