For the second time in seven years the National Marine Fisheries Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have determined that Chinook Salmon do not meet the requirements to warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.
A petition set forth by the Center for Biological Diversity claims that the spring-run Chinook Salmon is threatened, and endangered.
“It’s bad news for anyone who loves salmon, or depends on salmon including the orcas, including tribes, salmon fishers both recreational and commercial, and the public interest suffers,” said Jeff Miller, a Senior Conservation Advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity.
KVAL -{ }Chinook Salmon denied consideration to be labeled endangered species
NOAA’s Public Affairs Officer Michael Milstein says, “We considered the threat factors outlined by the Endangered Species Act and determined the factors do not contribute substantially to range wide extinction risk.”
Miller said there are major differences between spring-run Chinook Salmon and fall-run Chinook Salmon.
“They use different habitats, there’s a lot fewer of them, and they are facing some different threats,” he said.
The National Fishery Service lumps the fall-run and spring-run Chinook Salmon together, Miller said they are genetically distinct from one another.
Milstein says the two species are not sufficiently different, and that’s why fall-run and spring-run Chinook Salmon are paired as one species.
“We could lose that variant, and we’re not going to get them back if we lose them It’s a little frustrating that the feds don’t acknowledge them as their own entity,” Miller said.
The Center for Biological Diversity will read over the determination and decide whether they will challenge their ruling, according to Miller.
“We disagree with their assessment of extinction risks, I think they really downplayed a lot of the threats,” he said.