January 13, 2026 — Adecision by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to recertify the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) flatfish fisheries as sustainable is being challenged by commercial, sport, and environmental entities.
“Calling a fishery sustainable when its bycatch and habitat impacts are bankrupting the future of our ocean and fishing communities undermines the credibility of the MSC label,” said Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, in a statement issued by the group on Dec. 29. “Alaskans are calling for an end to bottom trawling. MSC needs to listen to the public and rethink its process.”
Karen Gillis, executive director of the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association, contends that MSC’s certification of the Amendment 80 fleet raises serious questions about how sustainability is defined. “At worst, it enables greenwashing by giving industrial trawling a pass while ecosystems and coastal communities pay the price.
“When industrial trawl fleets receive sustainability labels while small-scale fishermen and subsistence users bear the consequences, the system is failing the very people and ecosystems it claims to protect,” she said.
The BSAI and GOA flatfish fisheries are a significant part of the state’s multi-billion-dollar seafood industry, with the estimated value fluctuating annually.