Court recommends halting Alaska's salmon harvest

SEATTLE — In a massive international and coast-wide decision for wild Chinook and Southern Resident killer whale recovery, Seattle’s federal court issued a landmark opinion Dec. 13 recommending terminating unsustainable commercial salmon harvest that has persisted for decades until new environmental reviews of those fisheries occur. Overfishing was found in a previous ruling to illegally harm the recovery of both endangered Southern Resident killer whales and wild Chinook salmon across the Pacific Northwest.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Michelle Peterson issued a report and recommendation on Wild Fis...