Fishermen sue over proposed Cook Inlet closure

Anchorage, Alaska; November 9, 2021: Today, Wes Humbyrd and two other fishermen filed a lawsuit to challenge a regulation that would permanently ban commercial salmon fishing in the federal waters of Alaska’s Cook Inlet.

Proposed by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, this regulation, Amendment 14, will close the salmon fishery in Cook Inlet permanently.

“The North Pacific Fishery Management Council has vast powers to destroy our clients’ decades-long careers,” says Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Michael Poon. “The Constitution says that such significant federal powers must be stewarded by officials who are appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate. This ensures both political accountability and quality control in decision-making. The North Pacific Council, as demonstrated by the terrible Amendment 14, has neither.”

Represented free of charge by Pacific Legal Foundation, these fishermen are asking a federal court to restore their right to earn an honest living without interference by an illegally formed agency and its equally unlawful regulation.

The case is Humbyrd v. Raimondo, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Alaska.