Saving Seafood

Pacific halibut catches declined this year

December 9, 2025 — The Pacific halibut fishery ended on Dec. 7, and by all accounts, things remained on a stagnant trend. Stakeholders are dealing with the fallout from the lowest Pacific halibut spawning biomass in 40 years, and harvesters widely reported catches of fewer and smaller fish.

The annual survey conducted since 1963 by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC) revealed little change in the halibut stock that stretches from Alaska’s northern Bering Sea, British Columbia, Washington, Oregon to California’s Monterey Bay.

By early December, coast-wide commercial landings of halibut totaled 16.7 million pounds, down 16 percent from the same time last year and reflecting just  80 percent of the allowable catch limit in 2025.

According to a report by the IPHC at its interim meeting on December 2, total halibut takes (called mortalities) from all sectors – commercial, sport, personal use, and subsistence – were 28.8 million pounds, down 12% from last year, and marking the lowest removals in 100 years.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Stories from the margins of the industry

December 9, 2025 — Two books by women in the fishing industry have landed on my desk this year. While many women work on fishing boats—these days more than ever—historically, women have worked on the land side of fishing; they build the gear, process the catch, and take care of their families. These books come from those worlds.

In 2018, Kate Mitchell, the founder of NOMAR, a maker of brailer bags for the Alaska salmon fishery, published The Bag Lady at the End of the Road, a book that tells her and her family’s story. Like many Alaska stories, Mitchell’s is one of tenacity, luck, and finding creative ways to survive. Her book begins on the plains of South Dakota, and lessons learned from her independent-spirited mother, Ruby, who said, when pushed to become a teacher, “she would get a tin bill and pick shit with the chickens before she would ever become a teacher.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Snow Crab Collapse Linked to Energetic Limitations During a Marine Heatwave

December 8, 2025 — A new study addresses one of the largest mass mortality events in recent marine history—the abrupt collapse of the snow crab population in the eastern Bering Sea. The research team was led by NOAA Alaska Fisheries Science Center fishery biologist Erin Fedewa. They set out to identify potential factors driving the increased mortality, population collapse, and recovery potential of Bering Sea snow crab.

Erin and her team measured snow crab energy reserves during and after the 2018–2019 marine heatwave and population collapse. This approach is the first of its kind for Bering Sea crab stocks. Findings show that warmer conditions and high population density led to energetic limitations—likely causing the snow crab population collapse.

A New, Rapid Energetic Condition Metric for Fisheries Management

Poor energetic condition is a state in which crabs have low energy reserves. This can increase starvation and mortality risk, emphasizing the importance of monitoring the energetic condition of individuals in marine populations. Techniques used to monitor energy reserves in fish often rely on data collected rapidly during annual scientific surveys, such as the weight-at-size of individual fish.

However, snow crabs have exoskeletons; they molt as juveniles, which uses a lot of their energy stores. They require more sensitive techniques to detect energy reserves beyond simple length-weight measurements. These techniques are often time-intensive and costly. Scientists have not routinely monitored energetic condition in Bering Sea crab populations to date.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

ALASKA: Contamination safeguards of transboundary mining questioned

December 4, 2025 — Reports of mine tailings dams leaching toxicants into salmon-rich transboundary waterways flowing into Southeast Alaska are raising concerns of fishermen, tribes, First Nations, and communities on both sides of the Alaska-British Columbia border.

According to Salmon Beyond Borders and the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association (ALFA) the administration of Alaska Gov. Mike Dunleavy has put the risk of transboundary mining contamination of shared rivers at greater risk a decade after the Alaska and government of British Columbia signed a Memorandum of Understanding about Canadian mining on these transboundary rivers flowing into Alaska.

“For eight years the Dunleavy administration has allowed ongoing and new pollution from B.C. transboundary mines to go unaddressed and for B.C. to skirt accountability for commitments outlined in state-provincial agreements,” said Breanna Walker, director of Salmon Beyond Borders, in a statement issued on Nov. 25.

“Alaska’s fisheries are increasingly at risk from British Columbia’s transboundary mines,” said Linda Behnken, executive director of ALFA. “We rely on both state and federal governments to negotiate meaningful protection for Alaska waterways and fisheries.  In the absence of meaningful action our fish, fisheries and fishing communities are vulnerable.”

State of Alaska officials say they are in fact very engaged with British Columbia through the Transboundary Bilateral Working Group. Sam Dapcevich, special assistant to the DEC commissioner, said in an email on Nov. 26 that “Alaska also continues to advocate for cleanup of the Tulsequah Chief mine.  DEC is fully engaged and working with our B.C. counterparts on activity awareness and status of projects,” he said.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

The Wild Fish Conservancy’s never-ending lawsuits

December 3, 2025 — The environmental group that sued the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) in 2020 in an effort to shut down the Southeast Alaska troll fishery for salmon took home a $1.6 million reimbursement for its costs, despite finally losing its case.

According to the Wild Fish Conservancy (WFC) website, its sole mission is “the protection and recovery of the Northwest’s wild fish.” Sounds like a great idea, and it would seem that the WFC’s mission and that of commercial fishermen ought to align.

But in 2020, the organization sued the NMFS and sought to close the Southeast Alaska fishery, claiming that it was necessary to protect chinook salmon and the Southern Resident killer whales (SRKW). The years-long case swung back and forth. In 2023, a U.S. District Court ruled in the WFC’s favor, threatening the 2024 season, but a stay imposed by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed fishermen to work. On August 16, 2024, the court reversed the district court’s decision because it went too far.

But because the WFC won the earlier case, it sought compensation of $2.3 million for attorney fees and other related costs. The Judge gave them close to $1.7 million. “This appears to be their business model, how they make their money,” says Jeff Farvour, who trolls for salmon from his 40-foot boat, the Apollo. 

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Terry Haines/Kodiak Daily Mirror: Report cards for sablefish and cod stocks

December 3, 2025 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council will meet in-person starting today at the Egan Center in Anchorage. The council will meet through Dec. 9.

Among the documents they will peruse are “report cards” for Alaska’s sablefish stock, and Gulf of Alaska Pacific cod stock. These report cards are based on data through 2024.

Sablefish numbers continue to be buoyed by a strong class from 2019. Here are some other factors that could determine the fate of sablefish statewide:

Surface temperatures in the Gulf of Alaska (GOA) and southeastern Bering Sea (SEBS) remain below average, with no recent heatwave events in the GOA.  Unlike other species the historically warm water temperatures were beneficial to baby sablefish. Cooler conditions probably mean relatively slower larval sablefish growth.

Scientists actually keep track of the size of baby sablefish observed in seabird bill loads. While their size increased in 2023, it remained below the historical average, while growth was average in 2024.

The zooplankton community size was above average in the eastern GOA but below average in the western GOA in 2023, implying variable feeding conditions for larval and young-of-the-year (YOY) sablefish.

Read the full article at Alaskafish.news

ALASKA: Alaska seafood harvesting jobs down for fifth straight year

December 1, 2025 — Alaska’s commercial fishing industry, facing lower prices for its harvest and rising costs, saw a loss of 443 harvesting jobs in 2024—a fifth straight year of employment loss, state labor officials said.

That 7.6% job decline was similar to the previous year’s 7.8% job loss, the Alaska Department of Labor and Workforce Development noted in the November issue of Alaska Economic Trends.

Seafood harvesting in Alaska has lost over a third of its total jobs in the past decade, with fishing employment down every year of the last 10 except for 2019. That includes the summer peak, which has fallen about 30%, from 24,600 jobs in July 2014 to 17,400 in July 2024.

While most other Alaska industries bounced back after big job declines during the Covid-19 pandemic, seafood harvesting continues to struggle as the industry faces unpredictable runs, the volatility of climate change, seafood processing plant closures and sales, and disrupted fisheries.

International trade is also shifting, with China now purchasing more fish from Vietnam than from the United States.

Labor Department economist Joshua Warren said that how tariffs will affect these relationships isn’t clear, but they will likely put additional pressure on prices as domestic harvesters compete with countries that have more favorable trade deals.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Southeast Alaska’s commercial red king crab fishery sees ‘historically high’ value

December 1, 2025 — The commercial red king crab fishery that opened in Southeast Alaska on Nov. 1 is generating more money than it has in the past two decades combined.

Red king crab is a low-volume, high-value fishery. It last opened in Southeast Alaska in 2017. The catch that year was over 120,000 pounds, worth $1.2 million at the docks.

Eight years later, the value has skyrocketed to roughly $5 million.

“It’s definitely at a historic high,” said Adam Messmer, a regional shellfish biologist for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Weighing 6.5 to 7.5 pounds each and selling for $26 to $30 a pound, the red king crab are worth about $200 a piece.

Messmer said expectations going into the fishery were high, but the starting price was “above everybody’s wildest dreams.”

Read the full article at KFSK

ALASKA: Study probes environmental drivers of salmon bycatch in Alaska pollock fishery

December 1, 2025 — NOAA Fisheries scientists are examining how ocean conditions influence Chinook and chum salmon bycatch in the eastern Bering Sea pollock fishery, one of the world’s largest seafood harvests. The new study, led by researchers at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center and partner institutions, analyzes more than a decade of observer data to identify environmental factors linked to salmon encounters.

Alaska’s pollock fleet lands more than 2 billion pounds annually, but unintentional salmon catch remains a longstanding management concern, particularly for western Alaska Chinook and chum stocks that have declined sharply in recent years. These salmon are important to regional communities and vulnerable to bycatch because their migration routes overlap with pollock fishing grounds. NOAA and the industry have implemented multiple avoidance measures, but managers say a clearer understanding of what drives bycatch is needed.

“This is an issue that’s the subject of ongoing discussions at North Pacific Fishery Management Council meetings,” said lead author and fisheries biologist Lukas DeFilippo. “There’s limited information available on how environmental factors affect bycatch, which could potentially be useful for informing ongoing scientific and policy discussions.”

Read the full article at National Fisherman

US Chamber of Commerce enters Pebble Mine legal fight, backs challenge to EPA veto

November 26, 2025 — The US Chamber of Commerce has stepped into the long-running legal fight over the Pebble Mine project, filing an amicus brief on Tuesday in federal court that signals a major escalation in one of Alaska’s most contentious development battles.

The Chamber, the country’s largest business advocacy organization, submitted its motion to US District Judge Sharon Gleason, asking the court to accept its friend-of-the-court filing in support of Northern Dynasty Minerals, the Canadian parent company behind Pebble.

The move gives Pebble a powerful new ally as the company continues to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency’s 2023 veto of the mine under the Clean Water Act. That veto, which halted the project before it could advance toward construction, cited the potential for catastrophic impacts to Bristol Bay’s world-leading sockeye salmon fishery. Pebble’s supporters argue the EPA far exceeded its authority and imposed a precedent-setting blockade on domestic mining projects, while opponents, including environmental groups, maintain the watershed is too valuable and too vulnerable to risk.

Read the full article at The Alaska Story