Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Policy shifts, genetic insights shape the king crab fishery

February 3, 2025 — The future of Alaska’s red king crab fishery is at a turning point.

Proposed changes to the fishery’s management in Southeast Alaska could provide more opportunities for commercial fishermen, while new genetic research shows the species’ resilience. Together, these developments may help shape the sustainability of this valuable fishery.

Proposed Changes to Southeast Alaska’s Red King Crab Fishery

The commercial red king crab fishery in Southeast Alaska has struggled over the last decade, with only one opening in the past ten years. Currently, state regulations only allow for a fishery when the regional stock exceeds 200,000 pounds, a threshold originally set based on processor requirements when red king crab sold for much lower prices. However, that threshold is being reconsidered with individual crabs now fetching over $100 each.

According to KTOO, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has proposed lowering the stock requirement to allow smaller commercial openings, even when the 200,000-pound mark isn’t met. Adam Messmer, regional shellfish biologist for ADF&G, explained, “The 200,000-pound threshold… isn’t a biological threshold. It was created by the processors many years ago, saying that they couldn’t make money on anything less than 200,000 pounds. That was back when red crab was three or four dollars a pound. And times have changed…”

If approved by the Alaska Board of Fisheries, this change could provide more flexibility for commercial fishermen, creating opportunities for harvests during years when stocks are lower but still commercially viable.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Invasive freshwater fish able to swim through Alaska’s Cook Inlet, study proves

January 27, 2025 — In the fall of 2018, officials with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game and their partners celebrated what they thought was a milestone: an end to the infestation of invasive northern pike in the Kenai Peninsula.

Their laborious program – they thought – had ridden the peninsula of the salmon-gobbling species that has wreaked havoc on the natural runs that are important to commercial and sport fishers, as well as to the overall ecological system.

“We were all excited, you know. We spent, like, 15 years eradicating them off the peninsula. it was like this big, monumental moment,” said Kristine Dunker, a biologist who coordinates the Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s program addressing invasive northern pike.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

Alaska’s pink returns cause a low salmon harvest year overall

December 3, 2024 — Alaska’s commercial salmon harvests plummeted this year, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. The department’s annual report shows that the statewide harvest of just over 100 million fish was the third lowest on record. And the pounds harvested — 450 million — were the lowest on record. The numbers came with a decline in the fishery’s overall value, too.

The poor harvest results were driven mostly by weak pink salmon returns statewide. Bristol Bay’s annual sockeye run – the most valuable salmon fishery in the state at $128 million – saw another good year. The Southeast region saw lower runs across the board, except for chums. But pink salmon, which are harvested in the millions across the state, drove the overall harvest numbers way down.

Pinks run on a two-year cycle and even years are always lower than odd years. But 2024 saw a dramatic swing. The overall harvest was 42% below projections.

“So that was a bit unexpected,” said Forrest Bowers, the state’s Deputy Director of the Division of Commercial Fisheries. “Even with that awareness of the distinct, even odd year cycle of pink salmon, returns for pink salmon were poor in 2024, even for an even year.”

Read the full story at KFSK

Alaska’s total commercial salmon harvest this year was ultra-low in both quantity and value

December 2, 2024 — The number of Alaska salmon harvested by commercial fishers was the third smallest since all-species records began in 1985, and the value to harvesters, when adjusted for inflation, was the lowest reported since 1975, state officials said.

Additionally, the 450 million pounds of salmon that the total harvest contained was the lowest on record, officials said.

The totals come from a preliminary recap of this year’s salmon season issued on Nov. 18 by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Only 101.2 million salmon were harvested this year, less than half the 232.2 million harvested last year, the department reported. The money paid to fishers for their catches, known as ex-vessel value, totaled $304 million, down from $398 million last year, the department said,

The poor results from this year’s salmon harvests are part of a multitude of troubles in Alaska’s seafood industry, a key economic sector in the state.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Pink salmon collapse in Homer spurs call for disaster relief

October 30, 2024 — The City of Homer recently sent a formal request to Alaska’s Governor, urging the state to declare a fishery disaster for the pink salmon season. The city council’s request highlights the far-reaching economic impacts of the poor 2023 harvest, which has left commercial fishermen and their families struggling to recover from the financial shortfall. With many relying on pink salmon as a significant portion of their livelihood, Homer joins other Alaskan communities in calling for state and federal disaster relief to offset losses.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G), pink salmon, also known as “humpies,” are a critical part of the state’s commercial fishing industry. They are valued not only for their economic role but also for their ecological importance. These fish typically follow a two-year life cycle, returning to Alaskan rivers in odd-numbered years. However, variability in ocean conditions, freshwater survival, and rising temperatures have introduced uncertainty in population forecasts. In 2023, runs across the Gulf of Alaska underperformed, with fewer fish returning than predicted, leaving fishermen in financial jeopardy.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

ALASKA: Down year for Alaska salmon fishery may spell end of some Alaska seafood businesses

August 21, 2024 — Salmon catch totals and fish sizes have been disappointing thus far in the U.S. state of Alaska’s summer season, potentially accelerating the ongoing shakeout taking place in Alaska’s seafood sector.

Around 87 million salmon have been caught in Alaska this summer, far short of the 230.2 million salmon harvested in 2023 and tracking well below the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) forecast of 135.7 million fish by season’s end. While part of that has to do with the two-year cycle of pink salmon returns in Alaska, catches for every salmon species in Alaska are down this year.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Bristol Bay sees smallest sockeye sizes on record, despite large run

July 30, 2024 — This year in Bristol Bay, fishing crews have noticed that sockeye salmon were on the small side — an observation confirmed this month by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Fish and Game officials say that at this point in the 2024 season, the sockeye returning to Bristol Bay are on average the smallest they’ve ever seen. This continues a decades-long trend.

So far, the average weight of Bristol Bay sockeye was 4.2 pounds this year. Fish and Game biologist Stacy Vega said that’s the smallest average weight on record.

“Fish are smaller, weigh less than, than they have in the past and against our historical averages,” Vega said.

Read the full article at KDLG

ALASKA: Alaska to Study Fishing in Protected Arctic Waters

April 17, 2o23 — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has said that it is preparing for an eventual end to the longstanding moratorium on commercial fishing in U.S. Arctic waters.

Speaking last month during the Arctic Encounter Symposium held in Anchorage, Alaska, ADF&G Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said his department is seeking $1 million in state funds and another $2 million in federal funds to work on research aimed at understanding sustainable fishing in the Arctic, in the event it happens there.

“As fish stocks move north around the circumpolar north – and fishing fleets from other countries follow them – Alaska should not be left out. We see opportunities for our coastal communities to develop fisheries. And we certainly do not want to be left onshore while Russia and other countries go out and fish those waters,” said Vincent-Lang, according to the Alaska Beacon.

If the funding is approved, the scientific research will identify stocks north of the Bering Strait that are capable of being developed into commercial fisheries. Thereafter, ADF&G will draft a fishery management plan, determining participants and possibly allocating shares by communities.

Read the full article at The Maritime Executive

ALASKA: Alaska Department of Fish and Game releases Kuskokwim Bay salmon fishery announcement

April 2, 2o23 — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) released an announcement on March 29, 2023. The advisory announcement notes that ADF&G does not expect to open any commercial gillnet fishing in Districts 4 and 5 of Kuskokwim Bay.

This news may not come as a surprise to commercial gillnetters in that region. Those fisheries have been closed for most years since 2016 because there hasn’t been a commercial buyer.

Read the full article at KYUK

ALASKA: Fish & Game task force suggests updates to fishing industry in managing bycatch

February 15, 2023 — Alaska Department of Fish and Game’s Alaska Bycatch Review Task Force provided its recommendations on how to manage bycatch to the North Pacific Fishery Management Council last Thursday.

Bycatch describes any marine species unintentionally harvested in a fishery that cannot be sold or kept due to regulations or a lack of demand, according to Fish & Game’s Extended Jurisdiction Program Manager Karla Bush.

“(The) purpose of the task force was to explore the issue of bycatch and provide recommendations to policymakers, and in this case, that’s the governor of Alaska as the lead policymaker for the state,” Bush said.

Read the full article at Alaska News Source