Saving Seafood

A ‘worthwhile effort’ to address trawl bottom contact

May 19, 2025 — Jon Kurland, Alaska regional administrator for the National Marine Fisheries Service, agreed to take questions on the issue of trawl gear touching bottom and the pollock industry’s Gear Innovation Initiative. Here are his responses.

NF: It seems the issue of pollock trawl gear contacting the seafloor has taken on a higher profile lately. Is this true, and if so, why?
Jon Kurland: It’s been gaining attention for a while. A number of stakeholders have raised concerns about unobserved mortality of crabs from pelagic trawls contacting the seafloor as well as impacts to bottom habitats. It was a big topic during the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s review of potential new management measures for the Red King Crab Savings Area in the Bering Sea – an area that is closed to bottom trawling but open to pelagic trawling.

NF: What role have you and Alaska’s fish and game commissioner, Doug Vincent-Lang, played in elevating this issue?
JK: Commissioner Vincent-Lang and I have met with members of the pollock industry about this a number of times. We told them this is an important issue and that we’d like to see the industry take a leadership role in exploring and devising viable solutions to reduce bottom contact in areas where that’s a concern due to potential consequences for unobserved mortality of crabs or impacts to bottom habitats.

NF: Do we know enough now about the actual impact of trawl gear on the bottom and benthic habitat?
JK: It’s important to distinguish between bottom trawls and pelagic trawls. We know that bottom trawls are designed to fish on the bottom, and managers have closed some areas to bottom trawling specifically to avoid those impacts. Unfortunately, we don’t know a lot about how much pelagic trawls contact the bottom. We know that fishermen sometimes fish these nets very close to the bottom and make contact with the seafloor, but we don’t have much quantitative data about that.

Read the full article at The National Fisherman

ALASKA: Alaska fishing groups denounce ongoing effort to list Chinook salmon under ESA

May 19, 2025 — Alaska’s commercial fishing sector is up in arms again over ongoing efforts to have the state’s Chinook salmon listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a determination that could have massive impacts for the state’s fisheries.

Last year, Wild Fish Conservancy, a conservation group based out of Duvall, Washington, U.S.A., petitioned NOAA to list Alaskan Chinook salmon under the ESA, arguing that the once-abundant species had suffered chronic declines. An initial review by the agency found that ESA protections may be warranted; however, the government has yet to complete its review, completely missing its 12-month deadline for issuing a determination.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Alaska pollock season closes with strong catches

May 16, 2025 — Alaska’s 2025 A season for wild pollock has wrapped up with robust catches, low bycatch rates, and a broad economic boost to local communities, according to a press release issued by the Alaska Pollock Fishery Alliance. The results have been praised by industry leaders and fisheries managers as an example of successful, science-driven stewardship.

With more than 90% of quotas achieved in both the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska, the season has been hailed as a benchmark for responsible management. Fishermen, scientists, and regulators alike pointed to the collaborative approach — from real-time information sharing to rigorous conservation efforts — as key to the season’s success.

“The sheer amount of communication that occurred throughout the pollock sector, all in an effort to mitigate salmon encounters, was truly amazing,” said Capt. Dan Martin, a seasoned pollock fisherman from Dutch Harbor. “This, coupled with rigorous science, proactive management, and a strong stewardship ethic led to the success of this A season.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Fishery advocates criticize WFC’s Alaskan salmon lawsuit

May 16, 2025 — Alaska fishery advocates are speaking out against a lawsuit filed last week by the Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC), arguing that the legal action will hinder — not help — efforts to protect the state’s salmon populations.

The lawsuit, filed on May 8 against the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), informally known as NOAA Fisheries, seeks to compel faster action on a petition to list Gulf of Alaska Chinook — also known as king salmon — under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

On January 11, 2024, WFC petitioned NOAA to grant ESA protections to Chinook salmon from rivers flowing into the Gulf of Alaska. NOAA issued a positive 90-day finding on May 24, confirming the petition presented substantial information that protections may be warranted, triggering a year-long review and public input process. Under the ESA, NOAA had until January 11, 2025, to decide whether Gulf of Alaska Chinook should be listed as threatened or endangered. Now, WFS is suing NOAA for missing this deadline, citing further delays in protections for declining Chinook populations at risk of extinction.

“It should not take a lawsuit to make the federal government uphold its legal responsibility, but with the crisis facing Alaskan Chinook, we are out of time and options,” said Emma Helverson, WFC’s executive director. “The Endangered Species Act sets clear deadlines for a reason, to evaluate the risk of extinction and trigger action while recovery is still possible. By ignoring those deadlines, NOAA isn’t just breaking the law — it’s perpetuating the collapse of Alaskan Chinook and threatening the ecosystems and communities that depend on them.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Projected 2025 Copper River sockeye commercial harvest nears 2 million fish

May 15, 2025 — A new 2025 Copper River sockeye salmon forecast released on May 13 by state fisheries officials predicts a potential commercial run of about 2.5 million fish, with a harvest of 1.9 million Copper River sockeye salmon — up from a 2024 harvest estimated at almost 1.3 million reds.

That would be 50% above the recent 10-year average (2015-2024) total run of 1,757,000 reds, Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) officials said.

The 2025 Copper River District commercial salmon drift gillnet fishery is scheduled to open at 7 a.m. for 12 hours on May 22 for sockeye and Chinook salmon.

Wild sockeyes in the Copper River district were forecast at 55% above the 10-year average. Copper River Chinook salmon forecasts were down 25% from the 10-year average and categorized as a weak run, while stocks of sockeyes from the Gulkana hatchery were forecast at 27% below the 10-year average.

State biologists noted that salmon forecasts are inherently uncertain and are primarily used to gauge the general magnitude of expected runs and set early season harvest management strategy. This year the department will manage Prince William Sound and Copper River area commercial salmon fisheries in-season based on the strength of salmon abundance indices — including sonar counts, weir passage, aerial escapement surveys and fishery performance data.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

ALASKA: Alaska’s 2025 salmon forecast more than doubles last year

May 14, 2025 — An early advance from fishery managers shows that Alaska’s 2025 salmon season could be a doozy.

A full report on the 2025 salmon fishery and an overview of the 2024 season should be released any day, but draft projections by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) reveal big increases for all but Chinook salmon.

If the numbers hold true, a statewide salmon catch of nearly 215 million salmon would more than double a 2024 harvest that barely topped 101 million fish.

Here’s the projected harvest breakdown by species with comparisons to the 2024 season.

For sockeye salmon, the forecast calls for a catch of nearly 53 million fish, compared to just over 42 million last year.

For pinks, a huge boost to more than 138 million should hit Alaska fishermen’s nets this summer. In 2024, the pink salmon catch barely topped 40 million fish.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Conservation group lawsuit seeks to speed listing of Alaska king salmon under Endangered Species Act

May 13, 2025 — A Washington state-based conservation group filed a lawsuit this week in an effort to speed up the federal government’s review of a proposal to list king salmon as threatened or endangered across the Gulf of Alaska.

The Wild Fish Conservancy filed its lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., saying that the National Marine Fisheries Service had missed a 12-month deadline under the Endangered Species Act to decide on the conservancy’s proposal to list Gulf of Alaska king salmon.

The conservancy, in its 17-page complaint, said it formally asked the service to list the king salmon in a petition Jan. 11, 2024, which gave the agency until Jan. 11, 2025, to respond. The lawsuit asks a judge to order the service to “promptly issue” its decision on the petition by a specific date.

“With the crisis facing Alaskan chinook, we are out of time and options,” Emma Helverson, Wild Fish Conservancy’s executive director, said in a prepared statement, using another name for king salmon. She added: “The Endangered Species Act sets clear deadlines for a reason, to evaluate the risk of extinction and trigger action while recovery is still possible.”

Read the full article at Northern Journal

USDA awards USD 2.3 million in pollock contracts, seeks more bids on pollock, salmon

May 12, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) awarded USD 2.3 million (EUR 2 million) in contracts for Alaska pollock, while asking for additional bids on contracts to provide millions of dollars’ worth of pollock and salmon.

The USDA awarded two contracts for 1,026,000 pounds of Alaska pollock products, with the largest, worth USD 1.45 million (EUR 1.3 million), going to Braintree, Massachusetts, U.S.A.-based Channel Fish. Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.-based Trident Seafoods was awarded USD 829,996 (EUR 739,000) to supply frozen pollock sticks and nuggets.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Alaska Sen. Sullivan pushes U.S. government to complete key stock surveys, fight illegal fishing amid possible NOAA funding cuts

May 9, 2025 — The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation unanimously passed a seafood bill on April 30 to fight illegal fishing. The legislation would rely on efforts from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which Sen. Dan Sullivan said is already struggling to complete key fisheries surveys.

Sullivan co-sponsored the Fighting Foreign Illegal Seafood Harvest, or FISH, Act with seven other senators, including Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski. Sullivan said he hopes it will help fight unfair trade practices and give a boost to Alaska’s fishing industry.

Sullivan said the act takes aim at foreign illegal, unreported and unregulated, or IUU, fishing.

“It would blacklist foreign vessels and owners that have engaged in IUU fishing — it’s mostly Chinese,” Sullivan said. “And it would provide much more enforcement with regard to our Coast Guard’s ability to increase at-sea inspections.”

Any blacklisted vessels would be prohibited from accessing U.S. ports, traveling through U.S. territorial seas, except in accordance with customary international law, making deliveries in U.S. waters, or receiving services from American vessels.

Read the full story at KYUK

Trump administration is ending NOAA data service used to monitor sea ice off Alaska

May 8, 2025 — The Trump administration is ending National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration services that monitor Arctic sea ice and snow cover, leading climate scientists said Tuesday.

NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information has decommissioned its snow and ice data products as of Monday, the National Snow and Ice Data Center announced.

The data collected by that NOAA office is critical to the daily updates provided by the Colorado-based center, which tracks one of the most obvious effects of climate change: the long-term loss of Arctic sea ice.

It is also critical to the regular sea ice reports produced by Rick Thoman at the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Policy, as well as to research done by his UAF colleagues.

Read the full story at the Anchorage Daily News