Saving Seafood

Federal appeals court preserves Alaska’s two-tier system for subsistence fishing management

August 22, 2025 — Alaska’s current subsistence fishing program can continue without changes, according to a Wednesday opinion by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The ruling allows the federal government to continue offering preferential fishing rights to rural Alaskans — mostly Alaska Natives — who live a subsistence lifestyle.

That preference exists only in public waters under federal control, not in state waters, because federal law requires the preference but the Alaska Constitution forbids state officials from implementing it.

In their 40-page opinion, the judges said that recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings do not mandate a change in the way the state and federal governments split management of fish and game in Alaska.

Read the full article at the Alaska Beacon

ALASKA: New rule could clear path to harm Cook Inlet’s endangered whales

August 19, 2025 — A new rule proposed to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) would allow companies working on the Alaska Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in the Cook Inlet to “take” marine mammals.

The rule was proposed on July 29 by 8 Star Alaska, LLC, a subsidiary of Alaska Gasline Development Corporation (AGDC).

The proposed rule falls under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMAP) and would allow the company, over the next 5 years, to harass, hunt, capture or kill mammals by carving out acceptable ways of taking.

Currently, the taking of mammals is prohibited, unless a rule is proposed and directed in a specified area while engaged in a specific activity.

Read the full article at Alaska News Source

MRA regulations face final vote at NPMFC’s October meeting

August 19, 2025 — Final action is slated for maximum retainable amount (MRA) regulations related to bycatch in groundfish fisheries at the Sept. 29-Oct. 9 meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in Anchorage, Alaska.

Current MRA regulations, designed to limit the catch of species closed to directed fishing while allowing for the retention of unavoidable incidental catch, have been identified as potentially complex and leading to difficulties in prosecuting fisheries, as well as contributing to regulatory discards, council staff noted.

The action under consideration was initiated by a council motion at their April 2024 meeting, following a review of a discussion paper developed and presented by National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Alaskan research outlines methods to deter Pacific herring from spawning on kelp farms

August 19, 2025 — Kelp aquaculture operations are rapidly expanding in Alaska and coming into increasingly greater contact with wild marine species.

In an attempt to limit some of the interactions between Alaska’s aquaculture operations and wild species, researchers have outlined strategies to prevent Pacific herring from spawning and laying eggs on kelp farmed at aquaculture farms along the state’s coast.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: As inflation continues to rise, some fisheries turn to artificial intelligence to lower costs

August 18, 2025 — New technology is coming to Alaskan fisheries thanks to a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

The grant was to the Alaska’s Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) and the $485,000 will be used to develop technology to incorporate artificial intelligence into the existing electronic monitoring (EM) program.

ALFA is partnering with the Canadian company Archipelago Marine Research to enhance its FishVue AI tool, training it for Alaskan sablefish and halibut fixed gear fisheries. This move is expected to help increase efficiency and lower costs for the fishermen.

“If you participate in federal fisheries, your vessel is over 40 feet, you’re required to have either an onboard observer or an electronic monitoring, an EM camera system, on your vessel for a percentage of your trips that get monitored and that’s federal regulation,” ALFA policy coordinator Lauren Howard explained.

Read the full article at Alaska News Source

ALASKA: Alaska salmon harvest tops to 129 million fish

August 15, 2025 — Alaska’s 2025 commercial salmon harvest reached over 129 million fish through Aug. 12, with sockeye, keta and coho catches appearing on pace to reach total annual projections.

Those projected 2025 harvests would add up to 214.6 million salmon, including over 138 million pink, 52.9 million sockeye, 20.8 million keta, 2.3 million coho and 144,000 kings.

Data compiled by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game showed the statewide pink harvest at 62.3 million fish, followed by 51.3 million sockeyes, 14.5 million chum, 888,000 coho and 150,000 king salmon.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Vessel registration begins for Alaska crab fisheries

August 14, 2025 —  Pre-season vessel registration is underway for three Bering Sea commercial crab fisheries, raising optimism that there will be harvests of Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow and tanner crab in the 2025-2026 season.

“That’s a good sign that all of the big three crab fisheries will likely be open,” said Jamie Goen, executive director of the trade group Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. “I expect most crab boats will pre-register for the fisheries, in the hopes that the harvest levels will be higher than last season.”

“Last season, only about half of the crab fleet fished since the harvest levels were at historic lows after several years of closure,” said Goen, who is also one of two voting members from the state of Washington serving on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

“Crab harvesters are optimistic for a better season this fall,” Goen said. “The crab stocks looked healthy last season, and several captains thought the harvest levels could have been higher. In addition, we’re hearing reports from some other fishing sectors that come across crab noting there are lots of crab out there,” Goen said. “The snow crab population, in particular, may be bouncing back faster than expected,” she said.

“The industry is anxious to hear reports from NOAA Fisheries’ summer survey to see if it validates what the fishermen are seeing. The survey data will be reported when the council’s crab plan team meets the week of Sept. 8 to start the process of setting crab harvest levels before the scheduled Oct. 15 season start.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ANALYSIS: US Sockeye Prices Hold Firm as Bristol Bay Surges, Copper River Landings Drop

August 13, 2025 — Sockeye salmon remains a focal point in the US wild salmon market during the 2025 season, as stakeholders pay close attention to shifting dynamics across major production areas. The Copper River run, which is sought after as some of the first sockeye of the season and typically garners a premium in price, fell well short of elevated pre-season expectations this year. Initial forecasts had projected a harvest of 1.92 million fish—an “excellent” run that would have outpaced the five-year average by 55%. Instead, cumulative landings reached just 837,000 fish by week 31, marking a stark 56% deficit compared to projections. This puts the 2024 Copper River run squarely in line with long-term historical averages, rather than the anticipated boom season.

The resulting tight supply in this high-tier segment has kept pricing resilient, with the season closing out at an average of $6.75 per pound, up 3.85% from both 2024 levels and the rolling three-year average. Due to the limited availability, formal quotations for Copper River sockeye have now been suspended until next season.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

ALASKA: King salmon’s disappearance has changed the Kenai River, but a soaring sockeye run is keeping it in business

August 11, 2025 — A trio of anglers leaned on the edge of Jordan Carter’s boat in shallow water on the Kenai River last month, victoriously enjoying a cold beverage.

Their ride with Carter, a local fishing guide, was brief but bountiful. The group pulled in 18 sockeye salmon in a flash, easily reaching their limit with time left to enjoy the sunny day.

“He was 30 minutes, I was 45, and he was like 46,” Bryan Fanning said, pointing at fishing partners as he recounted the timelines for reaching their respective limits. “Coming up here and doing the sockeye, it’s great.”

It’s a different river from what Fanning recalls from his youth. The king salmon run that for so long was the centerpiece of the Kenai River has virtually dried up, with the fishery closed for a third straight summer.

Fanning remembers the family fishing excursions in the 1990s that could take more than a day to reel in a single king. Now living in Wyoming, his annual fishing trips north have become more eventful with the bustling sockeye fishery providing a reasonable alternative.

This summer’s late-run sockeye have been an absolute rocket ship, with multiple days of fish counts reaching over 240,000 in late July. By Thursday, the late-run sockeye count had passed 3.7 million, setting a new record amid a string of strong seasons.

The booming sockeye runs of recent years couldn’t have come at a better time, providing a lifeline for the fishing trade that has been the main economic driver on the Kenai Peninsula for decades.

The shift from kings has also shortened the fishing window — and with it, the associated tourism season — and brought a different demographic group to the region.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

USDA to purchase USD 100 million worth of Alaska pollock

August 6, 2025 — The U.S. Department of Agriculture plans to buy USD 100 million (EUR 86.4 million) worth of Alaska pollock and USD 20 million (EUR 17.3 million) of catfish as part of a bulk purchase of food products for food banks and nutrition assistance programs across the country.

According to the Genuine Association of Pollock Producers, the USDA has already spent nearly USD 60 million (EUR 52 million) on Alaska pollock products in fiscal year 2025, making it the fourth biggest year of USDA pollock purchases to date. The proposed USD 100 million would far outpace the previous record for USDA pollock purchases, when the department spent USD 76.3 million (EUR 65.9 million) in fiscal year 2019.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource