Prey Increase Program for Southern Resident Killer Whales

NOAA Fisheries is seeking public review and comment on a programmatic Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the expenditure of funds to increase prey availability for endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKWs). This DEIS, conducted under the National Environmental and Policy Act (NEPA), is in response to a recent court order that found NOAA Fisheries did not adequately evaluate the current releases of hatchery fish as prey (food) for SRKWs at a larger, more programmatic scale.

Further information can be found in our recent web story.

Current Opportunity for Public Comment

Prey Increase Program for Killer Whales

The public has an opportunity to review and provide comments on our prey increase program DEIS for 45 days. The comment period will end on Monday, March 11, 2024.

Written comments can be submitted to: hatcheries.public.comment@noaa.gov

For further information, or if you have any questions, please contact the project manager at: phone: (541) 802-3728, or email: hatcheries.public.comment@noaa.gov.

Southeast Alaska Salmon Fisheries

The public also has an opportunity to review and provide comment on a related DEIS for salmon fisheries in southeast Alaska. For more information, visit the website for that project.

Previous Public Scoping Opportunities

The public scoping opportunities for the prey increase program occurred last year. The Federal Register notice link is provided below. Two public meetings were held (August 30 and 31) online to learn more about this project and to answer any questions about how to provide input to NOAA Fisheries. We considered all of the scoping comments received in the preparation of the DEIS.

More Information

Additional resources about the prey increase program and other SRKWs and salmon information can be found in our feature story on this topic.

Read more about Southern Resident Killer Whales.