Commercially Harvesting Endangered Salmon? Rethinking the Interaction of Salmon Hatcheries and the Endangered Species Act After Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans

Authors

Joseph A. Brown, University of Georgia School of Law

Publication Date

2005

Abstract

Prior to 2001, a dichotomy existed in the application of the Endangered Species Act. Naturally spawned salmon, dwindling in number, were afforded the Act's protection while hatchery-spawned salmon, released in the billions each year, were commercially harvested and almost universally excluded from the Act's purview. A recent federal district court decision, however, held that the salmon listing decisions had not properly considered the contribution of hatchery-spawned salmon. Although the subsequent agency review mandated by the court decision left the listing determinations largely unchanged, this Note argues that the most profound implications of the court's decision regard hatchery management rather than listing determinations and cast doubt on any scheme for continuing the widespread practice of for-harvest use of hatchery stocks biologically or genetically identical to listed naturally spawned stocks.

Recommended Citation

Brown, Joseph A. (2005) "Commercially Harvesting Endangered Salmon? Rethinking the Interaction of Salmon Hatcheries and the Endangered Species Act After Alsea Valley Alliance v. Evans," Georgia Law Review: Vol. 40: No. 1, Article 6.
Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.uga.edu/glr/vol40/iss1/6