Saving Seafood

NOAA declines ESA listing for Gulf of Alaska Chinook

May 19, 2026 — Federal regulators have determined that Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon will not be listed under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), concluding a status review initiated by a 2024 petition.

According to NOAA Fisheries, the agency’s 12-month review found that listing the species is “not warranted” at this time, based on the best available scientific and commercial information.

The decision stems from a petition submitted in Jan. 2024 requesting ESA protections for Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon. NOAA previously issues a positive 90-day finding, determining that the petition presented substantial information indicating that listing “may be warranted,” prompting a full scientific review.

Read the full article at National Fisheries

Groundwater plays a critical role in Southcentral Alaska salmon rivers

May 15, 2026 — Groundwater discharge plays a critical role in salmon-rich rivers of Southcentral Alaska and managing this limited resource, particularly when salmon are migrating, requires a delicate balance.

These groundwaters also support increasing demands of people living in the area, as climate change introduces greater uncertainty in water resources and fisheries, notes a new study published in April in the online Journal of the American Water Resources Association.

Groundwater is traditionally defined as water stored and transmitted within the saturated zone but commonly includes the continuum of water stored and transmitted in both the unsaturated and saturated zones.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Gulf of Alaska king salmon are not endangered species, federal government concludes

May 14, 2026 — The federal government has rejected a request to list three populations of Gulf of Alaska king salmon as endangered, according to a public notice scheduled for publication on Thursday.

The listing was requested in 2024 by a Washington state conservation group amid long-term declines in king salmon numbers in Alaska.

If the listing had been approved, it could have resulted in new limits on development in Alaska as well as major restrictions on commercial, sport and personal-use fishing in the state.

State officials opposed the listing, and in a written statement Wednesday morning, Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said the decision means Alaska is managing its fish stocks well.

“This decision by NMFS Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler indicates strong support for Alaska’s management of natural resources,” he said. “Alaska became a state, in large part, to hold authority over our own natural resources such as fisheries. Since then, the sound science and fisheries management by our department has been recognized globally.”

The Wild Fish Conservancy, a conservation group based in Washington state, had requested the listing in January 2024, citing climate change and competition from hatchery-raised fish.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

Research continues toward automated bycatch monitoring

May 12, 2026 — New research on automated bycatch monitoring in Alaska pollock trawls concludes that developing accurate tracking methods is only an initial step toward potential applications.

Use of multi-object tracking (MOT) is currently limited by the challenges of collecting and automatically annotating footage of dynamic marine environments, according to research contracted by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center and National Marine Fisheries Service and published recently in Elsevier, a major Dutch academic journal.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

US Supreme Court declines to hear case brought by Alaska commercial fishers

May 12, 2026 — The U.S. Supreme Court has denied a petition brought by Alaska commercial fishers challenging federal management of the Upper Cook Inlet (UCI) salmon fishery.

The lawsuit was the latest attempt by commercial set net and drift net fishing groups in the region to force the federal government to take an active role in managing the salmon fishery instead of deferring to state managers, which has resulted in the closure of commercial fishing opportunities. The Cook Inlet Fishermen’s Fund claimed that Alaskan regulators intentionally limit the amount of salmon commercial fishers may harvest, instead prioritizing salmon for the personal use, sport, and guided-sport fishing sectors.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Alaska halibut fisherman convicted in ghost fishing scheme

May 12, 2026 — A Southeast Alaska commercial fisherman has been sentenced to five years’ probation, a $15,000 fine, and a worldwide ban on fishing and hunting after pleading guilty to conspiring to illegally harvest halibut in violation of the Lacey Act.

Vincent Jacobson, 52, of Yakutat, was sentenced May 6 in federal court. He had pleaded guilty on Aug. 28, 2025, to one count of Lacey Act conspiracy stemming from a scheme that ran from September 2019 to August 2022.

According to court documents, Jacobson conspired with fellow Yakutat fisherman Jonathan Pavlik, 41, to fraudulently use Individual Fishing Quota (IFQ) permits to commit violations of federal law and regulations. IFQ permits for commercial halibut fishing in Alaskan waters require the permit holder to be aboard a vessel at all times during a fishing trip — including when gear is set and when fish are harvested.

On Aug. 24 and 25, 2022, Pavlik’s crew aboard the New Era received halibut harvested by Jacobson’s Epic while Pavlik was not aboard either vessel. Pavlik then landed the fish under his IFQ permit, allegedly falsely reporting the vessel of harvest and claiming the halibut was creditable to his IFQ balance. Pavlik allegedly paid Jacobson for the illegally caught fish from both days. Jacobson also participated in two additional fishing trips in 2019 and 2020 involving nearly identical conduct.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

ALASKA: Bristol Bay sockeye forecast drops below recent average for 2026

May 11, 2026 — University of Washington’s Alaska Salmon Program researchers are forecasting a 2026 total Bristol Bay sockeye salmon run of 41.5 million fish, with slightly larger fish than in 2025.

The report, released on Wednesday, May 6, in Seattle, projects that most of the returning sockeye will be fish that spent either two or three winters in the ocean before returning to Bristol Bay to spawn. Researchers expect about 46 percent of the run to be 2-ocean fish and 54 percent to be 3-ocean fish, with average weights ranging from 4.9 to 6.6 pounds.

The forecast is 32 percent below the recent 10-year average of 60.1 million fish, according to data made available in November 2025,

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game in a separate forecast of March 24, projected a run of 45.32 million fish, allowing for a projected harvest of 32.26 million red salmon.  That forecast is 26 percent lower than the recent 10-year average, but still 21 percent higher than the long-term average.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

Alaska’s maritime economy works because we invest in people, not just projects

May 8, 2026 — Reid Williams, a second-generation fisherman from Cordova, grew up in a fishing family and began working as a teenager. After graduating in 2019, he leased a vessel and permit while working to build something of his own. With support from the state’s Commercial Fishing Loan Program, he was able to purchase his first boat and permit, a step toward long-term ownership that would have been impossible to achieve through traditional financing.

In the years since, Williams has continued to reinvest in his business. Now operating a larger vessel, he has expanded his capacity across multiple fisheries.
His story reflects both opportunity and reality. For young Alaskans who want to stay in their communities and build a life on the water, access to that first opportunity remains one of the most significant barriers.
The backbone of coastal Alaska
From Metlakatla to Unalaska, maritime industries are not just part of our economy, they are the economy. Commercial fishing, mariculture, charter fishing, vessel repair, seafood processing, research and marine transportation support thousands of jobs and sustain communities that depend on the working waterfront.
For more than 50 years, Alaska’s Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development has made a deliberate choice: when traditional financing falls short in seasonal, high-risk, or rural industries, the state does not replace the private sector, it partners with it through its Division of Investments’ nine revolving loan programs.
Since its creation in 1972, the Commercial Fishing Loan Program has issued more than 9,300 loans totaling over $641 million, supporting more than 20,000 jobs.

ALASKA: Copper River opener will launch Alaska’s 2026 salmon season

May 8, 2026 — While trollers in Southeast Alaska catch king salmon almost year-round, mid-May marks the official start of Alaska’s salmon season as sockeyes and kings run to the Copper River near Cordova.

The Copper River District commercial salmon drift gillnet fishery will open at 7:00 am on Friday, May 22, for a 12-hour fishing period. The standard commercial fishing schedule has two evenly spaced fishing periods per week, with the first period typically starting on Mondays. Fishing effort, harvest, passage, and escapement trends will inform managers’ decisions throughout the fishery, according to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. (ADF&G)

The 2026 Copper River sockeye salmon commercial harvest forecast is 728,000 fish, which is on par with the 10-year average of 733,000 fish.

The Chinook salmon total run forecast of 33,000 fish is 27 percent below the 10-year average of 45,000 fish and no harvest predictions are provided.

ADF&G said that depending on the relative strength of the sockeye and Chinook salmon runs, more management measures may be necessary to provide additional fishing opportunity on sockeye salmon while minimizing Chinook salmon harvest.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

ALASKA: 126 million salmon – that’s the estimated harvest by Alaska’s commercial fishermen this year

May 5, 2026 — Every year, state biologists predict how many salmon can be commercially harvested in relation to expected run strengths. It guides how they manage the state’s fisheries, like when and where they open and for how long. The state Department of Fish and Game announced in April that this year’s expected overall harvest is 126 million fish, which is 90 million fewer fish than what was expected last year.

“It’s not, not particularly concerning to me,” said Forrest Bowers, who heads the state’s Division of Commercial Fisheries. He said there is inherent uncertainty in the forecasts. “Keep in mind, this is a projection. You know, the accuracy of the projection varies across the state, particularly for stocks like coho salmon, they are very difficult to forecast. Chum can be difficult to forecast as well.”

Still, it’s less than two-thirds of what they ended up harvesting last year. That huge gap mostly boils down to one species – pinks, also known as humpies. Their two-year life cycle is the shortest of all salmon. And for whatever reason, their runs in Alaska are far smaller in even-numbered years.

Pinks are the most commercially harvested salmon. Last year, they made up about 61% of the total expected commercial harvest. This year, they make up nearly 44%.

Read the full article at KFSK