Oral arguments are scheduled for Thursday (July 18) in an appeal of a lower court ruling that nearly shut down Southeast Alaska's troll king salmon fishery last summer, public radio station KFSK, in Petersburg, Alaska, reports.

The action, taking place in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, in San Francisco, California, is the latest in relation to a lawsuit brought four years ago by the Washington state environmental group Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) against the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Marine Fisheries Service, the Alaska Trollers Association and the state of Alaska.

WFC has argued that fishermen using trolling gear are intercepting salmon that would otherwise feed a dwindling number of Puget Sound killer whales, further south. A federal judge ruled in favor of the group in June of 2023, effectively closing the fishery. Then the federal appeals panel issued a last-minute stay in the case just weeks later to keep the fishery open for last year's summer season.

Since then, the WFC has also petitioned NOAA to give Gulf of Alaska king salmon Endangered Species Act protections, as previously reported by Undercurrent News.

The hearing involving the three-judge panel is expected to begin at about 9 p.m. Pacific time, according to KFSK. The event can be watched here.