The Alaska House of Representatives passed the resolution to protect the troll fishery in Southeast Alaska on Wednesday. House Joint Resolution 5 calls on the agencies of the federal and state level to protect Alaska’s troll fisheries from lawsuits that will hold them accountable for the declining numbers of killer whales that are found in the Puget Sound area. The bill was approved on 35-to-1.
Rep. David Eastman, representing District 27 in Wasilla was the sole “no” voting.
The plaintiff of the complaint is Wild Fish Conservancy, a conservation group based in Washington. The organization’s policy is that ending the Southeast’s king salmon troll fishing may permit Chinook salmon to move back along the coast to the key areas of hunting for the Southern Resident killer whales.
The resolution to safeguard Alaska’s troll fishing industry was introduced by freshman Rep. Rebecca Himschoot of Sitka who is on the House Special Committee on Fisheries.
Many of the regional local authorities have also passed resolutions in opposition to the lawsuit, such as Juneau, Petersburg, Wrangell, Ketchikan and Sitka.
