Prey Increase Program for Southern Resident Killer Whales

A Record of Decision has been signed for the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement on Expenditure of Funds to Increase Prey Availability for Southern Resident Killer Whales.

NOAA Fisheries conducted this programmatic review consistent with 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.

Prey (food) availability is a factor limiting the recovery of endangered SRKW, and this program is intended to boost the amount of prey available to them in marine waters.

Four alternatives were evaluated in the final PEIS, including: eliminating the funding of this program, a hatchery production alternative, a habitat restoration-based alternative, and a salmon fishing reduction alternative. The effects of these alternatives are presented in this final PEIS.

Previous Public Comment Opportunities

The public scoping opportunities for the prey increase program occurred last year. 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.

A draft PEIS was made available in January 2024, and public review and comment was invited.

We considered all of the scoping comments received in the preparation of the draft EIS and the final PEIS.

The public was invited to review the final PEIS, including our responses to their comments submitted on the draft PEIS.

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.