Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Alaska’s Bristol Bay sockeye run and harvest increased this year, with fish sizes a bit bigger

September 30, 2025 — The commercial salmon harvest in Alaska’s Bristol Bay, site of the world’s largest sockeye salmon runs, held a mixture of good news and bad news this year.

The run of sockeye salmon, also known as red salmon, exceeded preseason expectations and totaled 56.7 million fish, the seventh highest since 2005, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reported in its preliminary summary of the summer harvest. The commercial sockeye harvest was also bigger than expected, totaling 41.2 million fish. That was 18% above the preseason forecast and 23% higher than the recent 20-year average.

The total amount of money paid to fishers delivering their catches totaled $215.3 million, about 7% above the 20-year average of $200.7 million, the department said in its summary.

The bad news is that while Bristol Bay sockeye salmon continued what has been a streak of huge runs — and while sockeye dominate the commercial harvest — other salmon species there continued to falter. Bristol Bay’s harvest of chinook, also known as king salmon, hit a 20-year low this year, totaling only 6,148 fish, compared to the most recent 20-year average of 33,469 chinook, the department reported.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

Faster Analysis of Data to Evaluate Bycatch Reduction Efforts in Pollock Fishery

September 30, 2025 — Scientists used a model to detect and classify fish in videos more quickly than humans. The detection model is called You Only Look Once, version 11 (or YOLOv11). It’s helping scientists evaluate the effectiveness of excluders that help salmon escape from fishing nets intended to catch pollock.

YOLOv11 is an object detection deep learning model for images. Scientists at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center customized it to detect and identify both pollock and salmon in fishing nets. This allows scientists to semi-automate the video review process used to evaluate the effectiveness of bycatch reduction devices. They can also observe fish behavior to improve the performance of these devices.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

ALASKA: Ex-vessel value of 2025 Bristol Bay salmon harvest rated at $215.3 M

September 30, 2025 — Bristol Bay sockeye salmon harvests of 41.5 million fish for 2025 exceeded the forecast by 18 percent, and with catches of Chinook, chum, and coho salmon, put the season’s exvessel harvest value at $215.3 million.

That total was 7 percent above the 20-year average of $200.7 million, and those prices may not include incentives for icing, bleeding, floating, or production bonuses, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game said in the annual Bristol Bay season summary released on Sept. 25.

Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association officials, who are already planning their 2026 marketing campaign, said that the average weight of the drift gillnet caught red salmon was 5.1 pounds.

The overall nationwide demand for all Alaska salmon has been upbeat.

Read the full article at the the National Fisherman

Conservation groups to sue over hatchery salmon in Columbia River

September 24, 2025 — The Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) and The Conservation Angler (TCA) have announced plans to sue the federal government over the damage they claim hatchery fish are doing to wild salmon, steelhead, and orca populations.

“Mitchell Act hatcheries are causing harm that we know how to prevent. We’re taking this action today as part of our long-standing commitment to hold the federal government accountable and prevent further violations that imperil these species and the ecosystems they depend on,” WFC Executive Director Emma Helverson said in a release. “It’s time for NOAA to stop prioritizing maintaining harmful hatchery practices over their responsibility to protect wild fish for current and future generations.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Commissioner’s permit available for new GOA tuna fishery

September 22, 2025 — A brand-new Pacific tuna fishery is open in the eastern Gulf of Alaska and state fisheries officials are anticipating a commercial harvest coming soon.

“It is very exciting; we are hoping to see some tuna harvested in the Sitka area,” said Rhea Ehresmann, Region 1 groundfish project leader for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G).

Pacific tuna species are not currently covered by federal fisheries management in Alaska waters, so they are being managed by the state. Commercial fishermen eager to target, retain and sell Pacific tuna must apply for a commissioner’s permit and possess a valid Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) vessel license and miscellaneous saltwater finfish interim use permit for the gear type used for directed fishing – in this case hand troll, power troll, or mechanical jig.

Pacific tuna caught as bycatch in the salmon troll fishery may be retained using the fisher’s CFEC salmon troll permit card, but salmon trollers must also apply for a commissioner’s permit, Ehresmann said.

The permits are issued with specific stipulations – such as dates the permits are valid, legal gear types, area restrictions/closed waters, requirements for logbooks and fish tickets, and restrictions on bycatch of other species.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

ALASKA: Southeast pink salmon harvest falls to lowest odd-year level since 1980s

September 19, 2025 — The 2025 Southeast Alaska purse seine fishery closed in early September with just under 20 million pink salmon landed — well below the forecast of 29 million and marking the lowest odd-year harvest since the 1980s.

“Fair to say that the season was a disappointment as far as pink salmon harvest goes,” said Troy Thynes, Alaska Department of Fish and Game regional management coordinator in Petersburg.
The disappointing harvest adds pressure to an industry already facing high fuel costs, inflation and low salmon prices.

Low pink salmon returns were a challenge for Trident Seafoods, which cut back to one shift at its Wrangell plant in August, earlier than it had expected.

The Southeast harvest represents only about 66% of pre-season expectations and falls well below recent odd-year returns: 2023 brought in 44 million fish, and 2021 was even higher at 48.5 million pinks.

Alaska asks US Supreme Court to weigh in on subsistence fishing dispute with federal officials

September 18, 2025 — After losing its case before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the state of Alaska is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on its subsistence fishing system, which gives preferential treatment to rural Alaskans.

“Alaska’s fisheries are among the most bountiful in the world, sustaining tens of thousands of livelihoods through commercial, sport, and subsistence fishing. Yet, the Ninth Circuit’s decision deepens a fractured system that undermines conservation, creates confusion, and threatens equitable access for all Alaskans. Salmon don’t recognize federal and state boundaries; our management shouldn’t either. We remain committed to sustainable management and will continue fighting for a system that works for every Alaskan. The Court should decide this case and reverse the Ninth Circuit,” Alaska Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang said in a release.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Brief tuna bounty in Southeast Alaska spurs excitement about new fishing opportunity

September 17, 2025 — In Alaska, a state famous for abundant salmon and huge, cold-water-loving crab, another type of fish is making a splash: tuna.

Incursion of warm waters into Southeast Alaska coastal areas off Sitka and Baranof Island created a brief tuna jackpot earlier this month for sport fishers.

One of the first of those anglers was Troy Tydingco, who happens to be the Sitka sportfish area management biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

He took a day off from work when conditions were just right to search for tuna, a type of fish suited to more southern latitudes: beautiful weather, with calm waters and water temperatures that reach 60 degrees.

About 30 miles offshore, the search was successful. Tydingco and his six companions caught 44 albacore tuna in all. Other fishers followed.

“I think this is probably the first time sport anglers have really successfully targeted them and harvested them out of Sitka,” he said.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

ALASKA: Mapping Alaska’s Wild Kelp Beds with Farmers

September 17, 2025 — Alaska’s coastline holds vast, untapped potential for seaweed aquaculture—but knowing exactly where wild kelp grows is critical for sustainable expansion. A new mapping project, led by NOAA Fisheries in collaboration with Alaska Sea Grant and local farmers, is working to locate these wild kelp beds. This will help:

  • Source healthy kelp for farming
  • Assist farmers in meeting state permitting requirements
  • Support NOAA’s Aquaculture Opportunity Areas identification process

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries 

ALASKA: Pacific tuna fishery opens in Eastern Gulf of Alaska

September 17, 2025 — A new Pacific tuna fishery has opened for commercial harvesters in the eastern Gulf of Alaska, with the required commissioner’s permits to be available from the date issued through Dec. 31.

“The decision to create the commissioner’s permit was based on requests from the commercial fleet to target Pacific tuna, given the large presence of tuna in our waters outside of Sitka,” said Rhea Ehresmann, leader for the Region 1 groundfish project for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G).

Ehresmann said sport harvesters have told ADF&G there is a large body of blue warm water around 60 degrees Fahrenheit located over 10 miles off Cape Edgecumbe outside of Sitka.

“It is very exciting; we are hoping to see some tuna harvested in the Sitka area,” she said on Monday, Sept. 25. “It sounds like the tuna are a bit farther offshore, around 10-plus miles from Cape Edgecumbe around the 1,000-fathom line, though the Pacific tuna are swimming and caught much closer to the surface.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman