Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Alaska lawmakers weigh trawl ban as salmon crisis fuels debate

April 16, 2026 — A renewed push to ban bottom trawling in Alaska state waters is gaining traction in Juneau, as lawmakers grapple with declining salmon runs and mounting pressure from fishermen, tribes, and conservation groups.

According to reporting by Alaska Beacon, legislation introduced by Sen. Mike Cronk, R-Tok, and Rep. Kevin McCabe, R-Big Lake, would prohibit bottom trawling and dredging in state waters beginning in 2028. The proposal also calls for a state-led study on trawling impacts, with an estimated cost of $3.9 million.

The issue is deeply tied to the state’s identity and economy, with salmon declines– particularly on the Yukon River– intensifying scrutiny of bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. “Salmon is our identity,” Brian Ridley of the Tanana Chiefs Conference told lawmakers, emphasizing the cultural and subsistence importance of the resource.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Alaska salmon harvest projected down sharply in 2026

April 15, 2026 — A draft report by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game indicates a lower statewide harvest of 125.5 million salmon this season, compared to last year’s tally of 194.8 million fish. That adds up to 69.3 million fewer salmon, a decline of nearly 36 percent.

The preliminary data show drops in all projected catches except for Chinook salmon.

Comparisons by species show that for 2026, the projected Chinook harvest is pegged at 197,000 compared to 181,892 in 2025.

For sockeye salmon, the harvest forecast of nearly 50 million compares to more than 52.6 million last year.

Coho catches are expected to top 2.4 millon, down from nearly 2.5 million.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Aleutians East Borough sues Board of Fish over new Area M salmon regulations

April 14, 2026 — The Aleutians East Borough, the Native Village of Unga and two Aleutian fishing groups are asking a state court to void fishing regulations adopted at a February state Board of Fisheries meeting.

The lawsuit, filed in the Alaska Superior Court last week, asks to overturn five regulations for the Alaska Peninsula and Aleutian commercial salmon fishery known as Area M. The borough is leading the lawsuit alongside the Native Village of Unga — a federally recognized tribe based in Sand Point — the nonprofit Concerned Area M Fishermen, which represents permit holders for the fishery, and the Area M Seiners Association — another nonprofit representing commercial harvesters in the region.

The plaintiffs say the new regulations would cause them significant financial and emotional harm, impacting the local communities that rely on fish tax revenue from the fishery.

Read the full article at KNBA

Alaska Legislature considers bills to ban bottom trawling in state waters

April 13, 2026 — The Alaska Legislature is considering proposals to ban bottom trawling in state waters as a way to protect salmon and the seafloor.

In recent years, popular social media campaigns have opposed trawling and its links to bycatch, the taking of salmon and halibut as fishermen target other species. Meanwhile, trawlers have come out vocally in support of the industry, focusing on its economic benefits for Alaska while seafood processors and other stakeholders struggle.

Access to salmon is a highly charged and emotional issue in Alaska. It is tied to jobs, food security and Alaska Native culture.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: ‘The salmon people’: How Alaska’s only Native reservation saved its fishing culture

April 10, 2026 — Across Alaska’s coastline, from the Indigenous communities of Bristol Bay to the Tlingit and Haida villages of the panhandle, rural harbors that once bustled with commercial fishing boats now sit unused and empty.

Abandoned boats covered with mold and algae line the shores of one Southeast town; others have seen their fleets sold off and relocated.

In the Indigenous village of Metlakatla, though, it’s a different story.

Fishing vessels pack the downtown harbor on Annette Island, which sits just off the coast at Alaska’s southernmost tip. Huge seiners, with onboard cranes to reel in fish-laden nets, loom over the docks, with many more slips filled in by smaller gillnetters. Fathers and grandfathers still fish with sons and grandsons.

Experts and industry players disagree about the exact reasons for the decline of commercial fishing in the rest of rural, coastal Alaska — with some blaming state policies and others pointing to global market trends.

Read the full article at the Alaska Beacon

Conservation group sues over Alaska pollock trawling claiming practice harms fur seal population

April 10, 2026 — Conservation NGO the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) has filed a lawsuit challenging NOAA Fisheries’ regulations for pollock trawling in Alaska, arguing that the government has not done enough to protect northern fur seals.

The lawsuit centers on the seal population around St. Paul Island, Alaska, U.S.A., where many mothers raise their pups. According to CBD, those seals rely on the same pollock that are harvested by the commercial trawling sector, depriving them of a key source of prey and putting that population under unnecessary stress. The seal population on the island has shrunk 70 percent over the last 50 plus years, and CBD claims that the pollock trawl fishery is one of the primary culprits.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: State legislators urge federal government to extend Russian seafood ban

April 9, 2026 — Last week on March 30 the Alaska Legislature passed a resolution [HJR 29] supporting the continued federal ban on Russian seafood being imported into the U.S. Lawmakers and seafood market experts say the ban is crucial to boosting the value of Alaska’s industry.

Rep. Louise Stutes, a Kodiak Republican, is the chair of the state house fisheries committee, the body that sponsored the resolution. She said Alaska fishermen’s ex-vessel value has increased over the last year in part because the ban has been in effect.

“This year prices were higher for their seafood because there is no more Russian seafood on the market,” Stutes said.

The current ban on Russian seafood went into effect in 2022 during the Biden administration and was expanded in 2023. However it’s set to expire next week on April 15 according to the state resolution, unless President Donald Trump extends the executive order, or Congress passes similar legislation to continue the ban.

Read the full article at KMXT

Environmental group sues feds over Alaskan fur seals

April 9, 2026 — The Center for Biological Diversity argues in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the federal government is hurting the northern fur seals population by allowing a fishery to compete for its sustenance.

The center, in its suit filed in the District of Alaska, says northern fur seals on the Pribilof Islands have been in decline for years. It points to a commercial pollock trawl fishery as a main reason, as the seals rely on pollock for their food.

Compounding that problem is a March 10 decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which placed no restrictions on the fishery’s operations. That failure by the service violated a handful of federal laws, including the Fur Seal Act, the center says.

“NMFS’ authorization of the fishery without measures in place to address prey competition causes unlawful take of northern fur seals and is therefore arbitrary and capricious,” it adds.

The center asks a judge to find that the service violated the Fur Seal Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by allowing the fishery to operate in a manner that negatively affects the seals. It wants the service to perform an additional environmental impact statement on the fishery that considers information about the harm the seals face.

It also asks for a judge to stop the service from allowing fishing that hurts the seals.

Read the full article at Courthouse News Service

ALASKA: All gear catch limit for SEAK Chinook salmon jumps to 207,400 fish

April 8, 2026 — Alaska fisheries officials have boosted the 2026 preseason all-gear catch limit for Southeast Alaska (SEAK) to 207,400 treaty Chinook salmon, up from 133,500 kings a year ago.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced on Tuesday, March 31, that the target will be 205,300 kings, compared with 130,840 kings in 2025.

The 2026 target includes a 1 percent reduction from the treaty catch limit that will serve as a buffer to avoid exceeding the all-gear limit and payback provisions of the treaty.

The SEAK all-gear catch limit is based on measures of Chinook abundance using the abundance index output from the Pacific Salmon Commission Chinook model, as required by the treaty.

The overall status of SEAK Chinooks has been characterized by ADF&G by a long-term decline in abundance, with many wild stocks classified as stocks of concern due to their inability to meet escapement goals. While hatchery produced fish provide some harvest opportunities wild stocks face significant pressure, prompting strict, fluctuating management regulations.  Many Chinook salmon caught in this area are not native to Alaska, requiring complex, internationally managed quotas.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman