Saving Seafood

Environmental group sues feds over Alaskan fur seals

April 9, 2026 — The Center for Biological Diversity argues in a lawsuit filed Wednesday that the federal government is hurting the northern fur seals population by allowing a fishery to compete for its sustenance.

The center, in its suit filed in the District of Alaska, says northern fur seals on the Pribilof Islands have been in decline for years. It points to a commercial pollock trawl fishery as a main reason, as the seals rely on pollock for their food.

Compounding that problem is a March 10 decision by the National Marine Fisheries Service, which placed no restrictions on the fishery’s operations. That failure by the service violated a handful of federal laws, including the Fur Seal Act, the center says.

“NMFS’ authorization of the fishery without measures in place to address prey competition causes unlawful take of northern fur seals and is therefore arbitrary and capricious,” it adds.

The center asks a judge to find that the service violated the Fur Seal Act and the Administrative Procedure Act by allowing the fishery to operate in a manner that negatively affects the seals. It wants the service to perform an additional environmental impact statement on the fishery that considers information about the harm the seals face.

It also asks for a judge to stop the service from allowing fishing that hurts the seals.

Read the full article at Courthouse News Service

ALASKA: All gear catch limit for SEAK Chinook salmon jumps to 207,400 fish

April 8, 2026 — Alaska fisheries officials have boosted the 2026 preseason all-gear catch limit for Southeast Alaska (SEAK) to 207,400 treaty Chinook salmon, up from 133,500 kings a year ago.

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) announced on Tuesday, March 31, that the target will be 205,300 kings, compared with 130,840 kings in 2025.

The 2026 target includes a 1 percent reduction from the treaty catch limit that will serve as a buffer to avoid exceeding the all-gear limit and payback provisions of the treaty.

The SEAK all-gear catch limit is based on measures of Chinook abundance using the abundance index output from the Pacific Salmon Commission Chinook model, as required by the treaty.

The overall status of SEAK Chinooks has been characterized by ADF&G by a long-term decline in abundance, with many wild stocks classified as stocks of concern due to their inability to meet escapement goals. While hatchery produced fish provide some harvest opportunities wild stocks face significant pressure, prompting strict, fluctuating management regulations.  Many Chinook salmon caught in this area are not native to Alaska, requiring complex, internationally managed quotas.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Arctic sea hits record low, while Bering Sea ice surges

April 8, 2026 — While Arctic sea ice reached its lowest seasonal peak on March 15, conditions in the Bering Sea told a very different story this winter– with ice expanding farther south than fishermen have seen in more than a decade.

According to reporting from KMXT, sea ice in the eastern Bering Sea continued growing for another week after the Arctic-wide peak, ultimately reaching its greatest extent since 2013. Ice pushed south past Bristol Bay and the Alaska Peninsula, extending to Cold Bay, Unimak Island, and even the Pribilof Islands

“The Bering Sea is the only place in the Arctic where sea ice is above normal,” Rick Thoman said to KMXT. “To our west, in the Sea of Okhotsk, so west of Kamchatka, it’s the lowest sea ice extent of record [as of March 19].”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

An upstream battle: Fishing policy in Alaska

April 8, 2026 — For thousands of years, salmon have sustained communities along Alaska’s Yukon River, not only as a food source, but also as a cornerstone of culture and tradition. Today, however, those salmon populations are declining, and researchers are examining if current policies that are meant to protect them are working as intended, for both the ecosystems and the people who depend on them.

A new study from Carnegie Mellon’s Department of Engineering and Public Policy evaluated how well the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) follows policies designed to promote both ecological and social sustainability in its management of salmon fisheries. By combining historical data analysis and interviews with traditional subsistence users, the team assessed if management decisions align with legal mandates and whether those decisions actually produce sustainable outcomes.

Fisheries are often described as social-ecological systems, meaning environmental conditions and human well-being are closely linked, and in the Yukon River region, that connection is especially strong. Salmon have supported Alaska Native communities for at least 11,500 years, yet populations have experienced decades of decline attributed to pressures like warming oceans, changing river conditions, and harvest impacts across multiple regions and jurisdictions.

“Traditional users of the Yukon River have engaged in reciprocal relationships with salmon since time immemorial,” said Sabrina Curtis, Ph.D. student studying engineering and public policy and lead author of the paper. “But today, they need help to balance systems of management with globalization, industry, and culture.”

Read the full article at Carnegie Mellon Univeristy

More than $65K worth of unreported fish eggs seized in Alaska

April 8, 2026 — More than $65,000 worth of pollock roe was seized by the U.S. Coast Guard last month after it discovered federal violations on an Alaska fishing boat.

According to a news release, the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Waesche seized approximately 5.4 metric tons of the fish eggs on March 26.

Federal officials boarded the Northern Eagle, a catcher-processing ship, approximately 15 nautical miles north of Dutch Harbor.

Read the full article at Boston 25 News

ALASKA: Southeast back to an average harvest goal for king salmon after last year’s low

April 6, 2026 — Fishermen in Southeast Alaska will be able to harvest about 70,000 more king salmon this season than last year. The state Department of Fish and Game announced the harvest goal for all gear groups on March 31.

“It’s not, you know, a great catch limit, but it’s a decent catch limit,” said fish biologist Dani Evenson, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Even though it’s sort of an average catch limit, it came as welcome news, because last year was the lowest ever.”

How many king salmon Southeast Alaskans can catch each year is determined by the Pacific Salmon Commission. The group oversees a treaty between the U.S. and Canada that ensures both countries can harvest the fish.

Alaska’s take this year is 207,400 king salmon, also called Chinook. That amount is in line with recent years. . .except last year. Last year’s regional harvest goals plummeted because of lower salmon forecasts in other regions.

Read the full article at KSTK

“Remarkable” sea ice conditions in Bering Sea this winter as Arctic-wide sea ice hits record low

April 6, 2026 — Scientists say sea ice in the Arctic hit its seasonal peak on March 15 – and it was the lowest peak on record. That probably comes as a surprise for fishermen who work the Bering Sea, where sea ice kept expanding for another week and hit its highest peak since 2013, extending south all the way to parts of the Aleutian Islands.

Sea ice last month completely froze over Bristol Bay and the north end of the Alaska Peninsula, past Nelson Lagoon. It reached Cold Bay, Unimak Island – even the Pribilof Islands.

“The Bering Sea is the only place in the Arctic where sea ice is above normal,” Rick Thoman said. “To our west, in the Sea of Okhotsk, so west of Kamchatka, it’s the lowest sea ice extent of record [as of March 19].”

Thoman, a climatologist with the Alaska Center for Climate Assessment and Preparedness, said there’s been a persistent series of high-pressure storms that have caused significant sea ice growth in the eastern Bering Sea by holding colder air in that area this winter. But that has also prevented sea ice from forming west of the International Date Line in Russian waters.

“That big high pressure over the Bering Sea has steered many storms and their south winds into the Sea of Okhotsk,” Thoman said. “They just have not been able to form much sea ice.”

Read the full article at KMXT

Genetics Shines New Light on Cod Populations and Distributions in Alaska

April 6, 2026 — A team of researchers from NOAA’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, and Alaska BioMap, Inc., recently published the most comprehensive population genetic assessment of Pacific cod. Pacific cod is a commercially and ecologically important species in the North Pacific Ocean, and this study identified four distinct genetic stocks. This research provides critical, novel information for setting appropriate stock boundaries for Pacific cod. It shows that our management boundaries generally align with the genetic structure across this region.

Genetic Stock Identification with a New Cost-Effective Tool

“We were interested in using advanced genetic techniques to determine genetic differences among Pacific cod from different regions in Alaska,” said Sara Schaal, lead author of the study. “We collected samples from fish caught in known spawning grounds during the NOAA winter trawl surveys and from our fisheries partners within the Freezer Longline Coalition.”

Schaal and her colleagues first conducted whole-genome sequencing, which identified four genetically distinct stocks of Pacific cod within the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea:

  • Eastern Gulf of Alaska
  • Western Gulf of Alaska/eastern Bering Sea
  • Aleutian Islands
  • Northern Bering Sea

Results highlight significant genetic mixing between Pacific cod spawning in the western Gulf of Alaska and the eastern Bering Sea. This aligns with satellite tag studies that showed high proportions of Pacific cod movement between these two regions outside of spawning season.

The stocks identified using genetics match current management areas, except for the eastern Bering Sea and western Gulf of Alaska, which are currently managed as separate stocks. However, these data show they cannot be distinguished at the genetic level. Additionally, results clearly delineate two distinct stocks within the Gulf of Alaska—with a break between the western and eastern Gulf of Alaska. This had been suggested by previous work, but was clearly shown in this new study.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

ALASKA: Southeast Alaska’s treaty-determined Chinook salmon catch limit returns to normal levels

April 6, 2026 — Fishers in Southeast Alaska will be allowed to harvest 205,300 Chinook salmon this year, returning to a normal total after last year’s ultra-low harvest limit.

The Southeast Alaska Chinook harvest total, set in accordance with the U.S.-Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty, was announced this week by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Last year’s Southeast Chinook catch limit of 133,500 fish was the lowest in any year since the Pacific Salmon Treaty went into effect in 1985, according to the department.

Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, make up the smallest total harvest of Alaska’s five species of salmon. But they are also sold at a premium, usually fetching the highest market prices. Those that swim in Southeast Alaska waters are the subject of management from different jurisdictions in the U.S. and Canada, through the Pacific Salmon Treaty. The treaty is necessary because the fish are highly migratory and swim through and spawn in various locations, said Dani Evenson, Pacific Salmon Treaty and Arctic Policy Coordinator for the department’s Division of Commercial Fisheries.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

ALASKA: Alaska lawmakers push for continued ban on Russian seafood imports

April 1, 2026 — A legislative resolution urging a continued and better-enforced ban on Russian seafood in the United States is headed to Gov. Mike Dunleavy.

Part of a series of actions by Alaska lawmakers to try to shore up the state’s ailing seafood industry, House Joint Resolution 29 won final passage last week and was transferred to the governor on Monday.

The resolution calls for continuation of the ban on Russian seafood imports imposed in 2022, after that country’s invasion of Ukraine. The ban was expanded in 2023 to cover imports of Russian seafood to the U.S. through a third-party country, usually China, where fish are processed.

The import ban is set to expire later this year. That makes the resolution timely, supporters aid.

Among the supporters is Jeremy Woodrow, executive director of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute.

Woodrow, in testimony to the Senate Resources Committee on Feb. 27, said a stockpile of Russian fish that was in the U.S. before the ban went into full effect is just now being depleted.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media