Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Alaska officials forecast another strong Bristol Bay sockeye salmon run in 2026

November 14, 2025 — The Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) has forecast another strong run of sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay next year, but the estimated number of returning salmon is still well below average for the last decade.

“A total of 45.32 million sockeye salmon (with a range of 31.12 million to 59.52 million) are expected to return to Bristol Bay in 2026. This is 26 percent smaller than the most recent 10-year average of 61 million fish and 21 percent greater than the long-term average of 37.4 million fish (1963–2025),” ADF&G announced.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

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

ANALYSIS: US Sockeye Prices Hold Firm as Bristol Bay Surges, Copper River Landings Drop

August 13, 2025 — Sockeye salmon remains a focal point in the US wild salmon market during the 2025 season, as stakeholders pay close attention to shifting dynamics across major production areas. The Copper River run, which is sought after as some of the first sockeye of the season and typically garners a premium in price, fell well short of elevated pre-season expectations this year. Initial forecasts had projected a harvest of 1.92 million fish—an “excellent” run that would have outpaced the five-year average by 55%. Instead, cumulative landings reached just 837,000 fish by week 31, marking a stark 56% deficit compared to projections. This puts the 2024 Copper River run squarely in line with long-term historical averages, rather than the anticipated boom season.

The resulting tight supply in this high-tier segment has kept pricing resilient, with the season closing out at an average of $6.75 per pound, up 3.85% from both 2024 levels and the rolling three-year average. Due to the limited availability, formal quotations for Copper River sockeye have now been suspended until next season.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

ALASKA: An Alaska-Grown Solution to Safeguard Bristol Bay

August 5, 2025 — The 20-year saga to safeguard the world’s largest wild salmon stronghold from becoming the future home of North America’s largest open-pit mine has taken a new turn.

On May 20, 2025, the Alaska House Speaker Edgmon (I-Dillingham) and Representative Josephson (D-Anchorage) introduced a bill into the Alaska State Legislature to prevent large-scale mining proposals, like the proposed Pebble Mine, from posing serious threats to the 15,000 jobs that rely on Bristol Bay’s salmon populations.

A Special Region Worthy of Safeguards

The immense value of Bristol Bay’s fisheries has long been recognized, especially by Alaskans. At the urging of local residents and fishermen, in 1972 Alaska State Legislators enacted the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve to safeguard the region’s commercial, subsistence, and sport fisheries.

The current law requires the Alaska Legislature to grant final authorization of any metallic sulfide mine plan within the reserve. House Bill 233 amends the current law to entirely prohibit metallic sulfide mining—also known as hard-rock mining—within the reserve.

In the years since the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve was enacted, science resoundingly states that hard-rock mining is incompatible with the region’s highly productive fish habitat. This bill is a common-sense solution created in response to the economic and scientific realities of the region. “We are thrilled to see our lawmakers pursuing an Alaska-grown solution to the Pebble problem. Safeguarding Bristol Bay’s prolific fishery and the 15,000 jobs and $2.2 billion of economic value that it supports is a no-brainer for a prosperous future for our state,” said Nelli Williams, Alaska Director of Trout Unlimited, and longtime resident of Anchorage.

Read the full article at Fish Alaska Magazine

ALASKA: Demand remains high as Alaska’s sockeye salmon harvest hits 48 million fish

August 1, 2025 — Sockeye salmon commercial harvests in Alaska reached 90% of the annual projection near the end of July, including 40 million reds from Bristol Bay, and Anchorage retail prices were holding at from $13.99 to $39.99 a pound.

Fishmongers at the New Sagaya seafood counter in Anchorage were also doing a brisk business in fresh troll-caught coho salmon fillets at $13.99 a pound, and whole trolled silvers from Sitka were on sale at $7.99 a pound. Shoppers at 10th & M Seafoods, another popular Anchorage fish shop, were stocking up on the sockeyes, at $13.99 a pound, with average orders of 10 to 15 pounds each, said store manager Tito Marquez. Costco warehouses in Anchorage also had their seafood display cases packed with sockeye fillets at $13.99 a pound.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Alaska lawmakers introduce bill to ban metals mining in Bristol Bay watershed

June 17, 2025 — On the last day of Alaska’s legislative session, House Speaker Bryce Edgmon introduced a bill to ban metal mining in the Bristol Bay watershed – including the controversial Pebble Mine.

House Bill 233 still has a long way to go before it could become law. But if passed, it would be the region’s first state-level restriction on metallic sulfide mining.

There are more than 20 active mining claims across the watershed, home to the world’s largest sockeye salmon run. That includes Northern Dynasty Minerals’ proposed Pebble Mine — which remains under consideration after more than 20 years despite local, state and federal challenges.

“The bill itself, I think, is a vehicle to continue the fight against the Pebble Mine,” said Edgmon, I-Dillingham. “Whether or not it advances or whether it just sits there and makes a very large statement that the region by and large is opposed to the mine.”

The bill, co-sponsored by House Reps. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage, and Sara Hannan, D-Juneau, builds on a 1972 state law that established the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve to protect the watershed against oil and gas drilling. In the past few decades, several bills have been introduced to ban metals mining, too, but none became law.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

ALASKA: New bill seeks to vastly expand Bristol Bay mining protections

June 6, 2025 — A new bill introduced in the closing hours of Alaska’s legislative session seeks to expand protection for the Bristol Bay region, home to a prolific wild salmon fishery that produces over $2.2 billion in economic output and supports over 15,000 Alaskan jobs. The bill, introduced by Speaker of the House Bryce Edgmon (I- Dillingham) and Representative Andy Josephson (D- Anchorage), would ban metallic sulfide mining, also known as hard-rock mining, throughout the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve, where oil and gas development is already banned without approval of the Alaska legislature.

The ban would greatly expand the area currently protected by the EPA under the Clean Water Act, which is centered around the proposed Pebble Mine. The new reserve-wide protections would encompass the entirety of the Bristol Bay watershed, where over 20 mining claims remain active in the wake of the battle over the Pebble Deposit. Additionally, if passed by the state legislature, the bill would create multi-layered protection — based on both state and federal regulations — for the region.

The Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve was first established in 1972 under the leadership of then state senator and later Alaska Governor Jay Hammond, recognizing the need to protect the sensitive region and its immensely valuable wild salmon fishery from the dangers of fossil fuel extraction and development.

According to Daniel Schindler, Ph.D., Professor in the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences at the University of Washington, “The iconic fisheries in Bristol Bay ultimately depend on the vast and productive watersheds that provide the spawning and nursery habitats for salmon. Industrial scale efforts to extract metals from the sulfide-rich deposits found throughout Bristol Bay watersheds pose substantial and unavoidable risks to salmon fisheries because it is clear that these activities will permanently alter stream flows, and will contaminate surface and ground water sources. Mining of these sulfide-rich deposits will also require perpetual retention and maintenance of waste materials that will generate contaminants directly toxic to fish for centuries. These activities are both economically expensive and are simply not compatible with strategies to sustain commercial, sport, and subsistence fisheries in the future.”

As a result of the bill being introduced in the waning hours of the Alaskan legislature’s first of two legislative sessions, the bill will automatically be up for consideration when the legislature next convenes in January of 2026.

Read the full article at The Hatch

ALASKA: Bill targets watershed protection for Bristol Bay salmon

May 23, 2025 — Legislation aimed at protecting the Bristol Bay watershed in southwest Alaska, home of the world’s largest run of wild sockeye salmon, was introduced on May 20, by Speaker of the House Rep. Bryce Edgmon, I-Dillingham, and Rep. Andy Josephson, D-Anchorage.

Coming at the end of a busy first legislative session, House Bil 233 – which would strengthen protections for wild salmon within the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve – will automatically be up for consideration when the Legislature reconvenes in January 2026.

Oil and gas development is currently prohibited in the Bristol Bay Fisheries Reserve without legislative approval. The reserve was established by the Legislature with the leadership of Gov. Jay Hammond in 1972 – marking more than half a century of state-based efforts to safeguard the region.

Northern Dynasty Minerals, based in Vancouver, British Columbia, has sought for years to mine the Pebble prospect, to extract copper, gold and molybdenum from lands abutting the Bristol Bay watershed. The mining company contends that by using state-of-the-art technology they can prevent spills from mining operations. Their plans have been challenged in court many times by concerns of potential environmental damage from copper spilling into the watershed in the event of equipment failure or other incidents.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

New study shows impact of ocean acidification on Bering Sea red king crab

February 27, 2025 — Ocean acidification appears to be a driver in the decline of Bristol Bay red king crab, a highly value wild Alaska seafood that has for years been threatened by climate change.

“There’s always been a high demand for Alaska crab,” said Jamie Goen, executive director of Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers, in October 2024. “It’s a matter of having the crab to harvest.”

The red king crab fishery was closed in 2021 and 2022, then reopened in 2023 with 31 vessels fishing down from 47 vessels, she said.

The Bristol Bay red king crab fishery experienced record landings every year from 1977 to 1980, peaking in 1980 with a record total harvest of 130 million pounds. Then the fishery collapsed in 1981 and 1982, leading to closure in 1983.

A new report published on Feb. 7 in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science said that negative effects of acidification explained 21% of recruitment variability of Bristol Bay red king crab between 1980 and 2023, and 45% since 2000.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

Bristol Bay data show widening gap in fishermen’s earnings

February 7, 2025 — Last year’s lower-than-average Bristol Bay salmon harvest likely went a long way toward long-term polarization of the drift fleet between fishermen earning the highest and lowest revenues. As a trend, drift fishermen with the highest production in the fleet typically made double the earnings of fishermen with the lowest production.

More recently, however, a dwindling number of top producers have been earning five times more money than fishermen at the bottom of the scale, A more dispiriting trend is how an increasing number of fishermen are falling from the middle into the bottom tier when it comes to their seasonal earnings. 

“The Bristol Bay fishermen we’ve spoken with seem to have done very well or very poorly, with not much in the middle,” says Sharon Lechner, president and CEO of the Commercial Fishing and Agriculture Bank (CFAB) in Anchorage.

For those not familiar with fisheries economic tools, the State of Alaska’s Commercial Fisheries Entry Commission (CFEC) keeps tabs on earnings in many state-sanctioned fisheries including salmon via data sets known as quartile tables. The tables break out the number of permit holders comprising the top 25 percent, the upper and lower middle 50 percentiles and the lowest 25 percent of the season’s revenues.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman