Trout Unlimited is mourning the death of former Alaska state legislator Dick Eliason, who served in the Alaska House and Senate for 22 years and was instrumental in the passage of landmark legislation in 1990 that outlawed fish farming in the state. The bill, which remains in effect today, banned the practice of finfish farming in order to protect Alaska’s wild salmon stocks.

Inducted into the Wild Salmon Hall of Fame in 2006, Eliason had long championed measures to protect the health and abundance of Alaska’s wild salmon runs. The move to ban fish farming in Alaska was not universally popular at the time given high salmon prices, the rise of industrial salmon farming elsewhere, and pressure by Alaska Native corporations and other entities to launch salmon farming businesses. But Eliason, who had fished for more than seven decades in Southeast Alaska, championed passage of the legislation. He also successfully pushed for the enactment of a statutory priority for sustained yield of wild salmon stocks in Alaska. This guiding principle is widely credited in part for the successful management of Alaska’s abundant sustainable salmon fisheries today.

“Dick Eliason’s tireless commitment to the protection and enhancement of Alaska’s wild salmon stocks and the clean, healthy habitat on which they depend was truly exemplary,” said Tim Bristol, director of Trout Unlimited’s Alaska Program. “With the threats wild salmon are facing in Bristol Bay and the Tongass, we need more visionaries like Sen. Eliason today to push for wild salmon protection as a top management priority.”

Eliason passed away last Sunday at age 85. Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell ordered state flags to be flown at half-mast today.

“Senator Eliason will be remembered for his decades of service to our state and his steadfast commitment to sensible, long-term management of Alaska’s fisheries,” Parnell said in a prepared statement.