I’m not that pessimistic. NMFS certainly has the authority to regulate salmon fisheries in the U.S, including the SE AK troll fishery. And now that SRKW’s are threatened by a lack of preferred prey (Chinook salmon), NMFS has another incentive to emphasize conservation when those Chinook salmon are in their feeding phase in SE AK. The WFC Notice of Intent to Sue might be the incentive they need.

My concern is whether our conservation efforts (if they are successful) will be thwarted by an increase in Canadian fisheries in Canadian waters. NMFS doesn’t have nearly as much control when those fish migrate back home thru BC provincial waters. NMFS has influence thru the Pacific Salmon Treaty and the Pacific Fishery Management Council, but it’s indirect compared to their control over U.S. ocean fisheries.

And it's complicated by the sockeye salmon fishery in the U.S. which is directed at Fraser Rv (Canadian) fish when they pass thru the Strait of Juan de Fuca.