In January 2013, the United Cook Inlet Drift Association filed a lawsuit against the National Marine Fisheries Service and the Secretary of Commerce challenging the approval of a decision by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to remove federal waters in Cook Inlet from the scope of the federal salmon fishery management plan. This case is pending before the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, as case number 14-35928, and is under assessment by the mediation program for settlement potential.

There have been numerous misstatements made about this case, including statements by some Alaska legislators and in an op-ed piece by Karl Johnstone (recently removed as Board of Fisheries chairman) as to the intent of this case. We hope that this brief statement provides clarification on the nature of this litigation.

UCIDA does not want federal management of the Cook Inlet fishery. We want the council, in conjunction with the state and stakeholder groups, to write a Fisheries Management Plan for Cook Inlet that complies with the 10 National Standards in the Magnuson-Stevens Act, then delegate authority to the state to manage the fishery. This process is used in Southeast Alaska for salmon management and in other fisheries across the state, Bering Sea crab, for example. We are not asking for anything out of the ordinary, we are only asking that the state be held to the same management standards in Cook Inlet that it has to follow in other areas.

The plaintiffs in this case are UCIDA and the Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund. The suit was filed against the secretary of Commerce and the National Marine Fisheries Service. The state of Alaska was not sued. The state of Alaska decided to intervene in support of the NMFS and participate as an intervenor-defendant.

UCIDA’s principal concern is the long-term health of the salmon fisheries in Cook Inlet and the ability to maintain a viable commercial fishery in the Inlet for generations to come. The MSA is our national charter and model for sound, science-based management of commercial fisheries. The MSA includes 10 national standards and requires the development of an FMP based on the best science available to ensure that fisheries are sustainably managed and managed to ensure the maximum sustainable yield from that fishery. The MSA expressly allows these plans to incorporate state management measures and allows NMFS to delegate management of the fishery to a state.

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