The United States District Court for the District of Alaska ruled that the closure of the EEZ in Cook Inlet for commercial salmon fishing be vacated. In November, NOAA Fisheries implemented an amendment to the Fishery Management Plan for the Salmon Fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska. The rule prohibited commercial salmon fishing in the federal waters of Cook Inlet. The area is three nautical miles to 200 nautical miles off Alaska and is referred to as the Cook Inlet EEZ.
A pair of lawsuits brought by the United Cook Inlet Drift Association (UCIDA) against the National Marine Fisheries Service, with the State of Alaska intervening as a defendant, argues that their approval of the EEZ’s closure is arbitrary, capricious and contrary to law, and Wes Humbyrd against Gina Raimondo in her official capacity as United States Secretary of Commerce, filed a suit arguing that the new rule to shut down a commercial salmon fishery violates federal law and would decimate their livelihoods.
Rick Green Special Assistant to the Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game tells KSRM:
“The EEZ, the ruling came down by the U.S. District Court. We really haven’t gone into a lot of the details, but we do know, at this point, that that Exclusive Economic Zone, which was set forth by the Magnuson-Stevens Act, and creating the federal water and federal jurisdiction, we do know that the ban on commercial fishing from that ruling is now listed. There is no federal prohibition and the Upper Cook Inlet will be opened and managed under the Upper Cook Inlet Drift Management Plan for this season.”
Area Management Biologist Brian Marston adds:
“As a result of the June 21, 2022 U.S. District Court ruling, there is no federal prohibition on commercial salmon fishing in the federal EEZ waters of Upper Cook Inlet. Any vessel fishing for salmon in Cook Inlet will be regulated by the State of Alaska under the laws of the State of Alaska, as was the case before the implementation of Amendment 14. As a result, the federal waters of Upper Cook Inlet will be open under the Central District Drift Gillnet Fishery Management Plan this season.”
The Alaska Salmon Alliance, City of Kenai, City of Homer, and City of Soldotna filed amicus briefs in support of UCIDA.
Click here for a link to the 54 page summary judgement.