Status Review of Southeast Alaska Herring (Clupea pallasi) (2014)

On April 11, 2008, after completing a formal status review of the best available scientific and commercial data, NOAA Fisheries announced that the listing of Lynn Canal herring under the Endangered Species  Act (ESA) was not warranted because the population did not constitute a species, subspecies, or distinct population segment (DPS). Instead, the Lynn Canal herring population was determined to be part of a larger Southeast Alaska DPS of Pacific herring. To pursue the findings of the Lynn Canal status review, NOAA Fisheries initiated a status review to evaluate the extinction risk of the Southeast Alaska DPS of Pacific herring. The key task of the status review and extinction risk assessment was to provide sufficient information to support a determination as to whether the Southeast Alaska DPS is threatened or endangered.

This document is a compilation of the best available scientific and commercial data and a description of past, present, and likely future threats to the Southeast Alaska Distinct Population Segment of Pacific herring. It does not represent a decision by NOAA Fisheries on whether this taxon should be proposed for listing as threatened or endangered under the ESA. The results of that decision will be posted on the NOAA Fisheries website and announced in the Federal Register.