June 16, 2026 — At the June meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC), council members made a motion to continue research on the effects of midwater trawling in Alaska but failed to take concrete action on the matter, despite public pressure.
According to documents from the meeting, the reason the council gave for not reducing bottom contact in pelagic trawl gear fisheries is due to a lack of data “regarding the magnitude of unobserved crab mortality from interactions with pelagic trawl gear.” The council has previously stated that reducing bottom contact is a goal in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, where nonpelagic trawl gear is already banned.