Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Aleutians East Borough files ethics complaint after Board of Fisheries Area M decision

March 9, 2026 — The Aleutians East Borough is asking the state to investigate whether a member of the Alaska Board of Fisheries acted ethically during a vote on restrictions to the Area M salmon fishery.

Borough Mayor Alvin Osterback and representatives from several tribes in the region say they filed a complaint with the Alaska Department of Law on Feb. 23. They say a member of the Alaska Board of Fisheries had a conflict of interest when he cast a tie-breaking vote last month in favor of restricting the Area M fishery.

The complaint argues that Curtis Chamberlain of Anchorage should have recused himself because he is an attorney at the Calista Corporation, a Western Alaska Native corporation that has advocated for stricter limits on the fishery.

Read the full article at KYUK

ALASKA: Alaska Natives, advocates hail state’s new restrictions aimed at helping chum salmon recover

March 5, 2026 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries is cutting chum salmon fishing by 30 per cent in southwest Alaska.

Alaskan Native communities, who have been facing increasing food insecurity from lack of salmon in the Yukon River for years, say the move is a good first step.

In the interior of Alaska, along the Yukon River, is Beaver, a remote village that has relied on chum salmon for years as a main food source. The closest grocery store is in Fairbanks, 170 km due south by plane, and food has to be flown in at a high price.

Rhonda Pitka is the Chief of the Village of Beaver. She said 2019 was the last good fishing year before the “Yukon River salmon crash.”

“The salmon sustained us for so long. It was our lifeline,” she said. “We live in these incredibly cold communities in the winter. So when we were fishing in the summer we will put enough away for all winter long and then we would have enough to share with our relatives in their communities.”

Read the full article at CBC

ALASKA: Silver Bay Seafoods is stopping processing in Cordova, Alaska for remainder of 2026

March 4, 2026 — Sitka, Alaska, U.S.A.-based Silver Bay Seafoods recently announced the company would pause processing in Cordova for the remainder of 2026, citing low salmon forecasts.

“Silver Bay Seafoods will be buying salmon in all Prince William Sound [PWS] drift and seine fisheries in 2026, and we will continue to provide fleet services in Cordova,” Silver Bay Seafoods Chief Operating Officer Branson Spiers told the Cordova Times. “Given the low salmon forecasts in PWS, we’ve developed an operational plan that prioritizes fishermen opportunity and economics, with processing planned in Valdez and Seward.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Alaska Board of Fisheries votes to reduce Area M salmon fishing times

February 27, 2026 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries has approved some of the most severe restrictions on salmon fishing in the Area M fishery in decades.

On Feb. 25, the board approved a proposal to reduce June salmon fishing times in the area along the western Alaska Peninsula and Eastern Aleutians in a 4-3 vote. It pencils out to a loss of 136 hours for the drift fleet and 94 hours for the seine fleet. The reductions come during periods when vulnerable chum salmon stocks are present, but also when commercial fishermen are busy scooping up sockeye.

It’s a move welcomed by Western Alaska tribes and stakeholders who have faced years of record-low chum salmon returns on the Kuskokwim River, and complete salmon fishing closures on the Yukon River.

But they also say the reductions don’t go far enough. The original version of the approved proposal was submitted by Bethel’s tribe, and it called for a 10-day consecutive closure in the June fishery.

Read the full article at KYUK

ALASKA: Silver Bay Seafoods halts processing in Cordova for 2026

February 27, 2026 — Silver Bay Seafoods will be offering support and buying salmon from harvesters in Cordova during the 2026 season, but only processing the catch in Seward and Valdez.

That’s due to low salmon forecasts, according to the company.

“Silver Bay Seafoods will be buying salmon in all Prince William Sound drift and seine fisheries in 2026 and we will continue to provide fleet services in Cordova,” Branson Spiers, chief operating officer for Silver Bay, said on Feb. 24. “Given the low salmon forecasts in PWS, we’ve developed an operational plan that prioritizes fishermen opportunity and economics, with processing planned in Valdez and Seward.”

In 2027, Silver Bay expects to see higher forecasts and will adjust its operational plans accordingly, the company said.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

ALASKA: ADF&G forecasts excellent 2026 sockeye salmon run in Upper Cook Inlet

February 27, 2026 — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) is forecasting an excellent sockeye salmon season in the Upper Cook Inlet this year, with an expected run of 7.6 million fish and available harvest of 5.6 million fish.

Though higher than average, that would still be notably lower than the surge of sockeye that returned in the 2025 run. The state estimated a 2025 run of 11.5 million sockeye, 4.6 million more than the preseason forecast of 6.9 million fish. According to ADF&G, commercial fishers were able to harvest 3.4 million sockeye in 2025 – 60 percent more than the average annual harvest over the last 20 years.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Trump administration defends Biden-era rejection of Pebble mine by EPA

February 26, 2026 — The U.S. Department of Justice is defending a Biden-era veto of the Pebble copper and gold project, saying the Environmental Protection Agency properly exercised its authority to prevent adverse impacts to a “globally significant” fishery in Bristol Bay.

The Feb. 17 court filing by the Department of Justice continues the Trump administration’s opposition to the proposed mine, a departure from the president’s aggressive pro-development agenda that includes support of U.S. mineral production in Alaska.

The Pebble project sits on state land about 200 miles southwest of Anchorage, near the headwaters of Bristol Bay, home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery.

Mine developer Pebble Limited Partnership brought the case in 2024, suing EPA over its decision to block the mine under a little-used provision in the Clean Water Act. The agency had said the mine would cause “unacceptable, adverse” harm to the valuable Bristol Bay salmon fishery.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Legislation would loosen restrictions on Board of Fisheries members’ deliberations

February 26, 2026 — During his 20 years as a member of the Alaska Board of Fisheries, Petersburg commercial fisherman John Jensen relied on a lifetime of experience harvesting salmon, crab and other shellfish as he voted on statewide fisheries regulations.

But he couldn’t always weigh in with his wisdom. Jensen couldn’t participate in the board’s deliberations on state management of fisheries in which he’d declared a conflict of interest.

A Kodiak legislator is looking to change that this year.

“I can’t begin to explain how frustrating it was to sit on the board when you have 150 proposals and you’re out of the discussion for 50 of them,” Jensen said during an interview with the Daily Sitka Sentinel on Feb. 17.

A bill pending in the Alaska Legislature would allow fishermen who serve on the Board of Fisheries to take part in board deliberations on regulations that may affect their fishing operations.

The bill would allow those members, as well as Alaska Board of Game members, to deliberate, debate and discuss with their colleagues at the table — but not vote — on proposals that could affect them personally or financially.

Members would continue to be prohibited from voting on proposals in which they have declared a conflict of interest, which would be a personal decision based on each board member’s financial or family interests.

Read the full article at Wrangell Sentinel

The rare issue uniting Trump and green groups: Blocking Pebble mine

February 24, 2026 — The Department of Justice is defending a Biden-era veto of the Pebble mine in Alaska in what may be one of the Trump administration’s only points of agreement with environmental groups.

EPA’s rejection of a Clean Water Act permit for the mine in 2023 was justified and protective of Alaska’s Bristol Bay watershed, home to a globally significant salmon fishery “that is unrivaled in North America,” DOJ attorneys said in a Feb. 17 legal brief.

In doing so, federal attorneys rebuffed arguments from Pebble Partnership, a company wholly owned by Northern Dynasty that’s suing the U.S. government for blocking its plans to build a massive copper, gold and molybdenum mine. The southwest Alaska open-pit mining project would be developed in the pristine Bristol Bay watershed, prime salmon habitat.

Read the full article at E&E News

ALASKA: NOAA Fisheries identifies 77 potential aquaculture opportunity areas in Gulf of Alaska

February 24, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has identified 77 locations in the Gulf of Alaska that could be suitable for aquaculture operations, following up on an order issued by U.S. President Donald Trump in 2020.

“Alaska has more coastline than the rest of the nation combined, and we should be using that resource to its full potential,” Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy said in a release. “This atlas helps identify where aquaculture makes sense in our state waters. It will support creating new job opportunities, strengthen food security for Alaskans, and add to Alaska’s already tremendous seafood industry.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource