Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Board of Fish rejects proposals to reduce hatchery pink and chum production

March 27, 2026 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries last weekend voted down three proposals to limit hatchery production of pink and chum salmon. Those hatcheries are mostly in Southeast Alaska and Prince William Sound. They’re run by private nonprofits, and the state manages their permits.

There are currently 11 hatcheries permitted to take 1.39 billion pink salmon eggs and 15 hatcheries permitted to take 939 million chum salmon eggs.

The Fairbanks Fish and Game Advisory Committee sought a 25% reduction in egg production per hatchery permit. That’s a proposal that they’ve recommended before.

Board of Fish member Mike Wood of Talkeetna discussed the pros and cons.

“By cutting 25% of hatchery production in areas like Prince William Sound or Southeast, is the squeeze worth the juice with the impacts that it would have on these small boat fishermen, on an industry that we really need to rely on in this state?” he asked.

Read the full article at KCAW

ALASKA: Board of Fish to consider limiting pink and chum hatchery production and changes to trawl gear

March 19, 2026 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries is meeting Tuesday through Saturday in Anchorage at the Egan Civic and Convention Center to consider changes to statewide finfish fisheries. Board members are appointed by the governor. They consider changes to the state’s fish regulations after listening to opinions from Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game and the public.

Three proposals are seeking to limit hatchery production of chum and pink salmon in the state. There are about 30 salmon hatcheries, mostly in Southeast and Prince William Sound. Almost all of them are private nonprofits permitted by the state.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

 

ALASKA: Board of Fish to consider limiting pink and chum hatchery production and changes to trawl gear

March 17, 2026 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries is meeting Tuesday through Saturday in Anchorage at the Egan Civic and Convention Center to consider changes to statewide finfish fisheries. Board members are appointed by the governor. They consider changes to the state’s fish regulations after listening to opinions from Alaska’s Department of Fish and Game and the public.

Three proposals are seeking to limit hatchery production of chum and pink salmon in the state. There are about 30 salmon hatcheries, mostly in Southeast and Prince William Sound. Almost all of them are private nonprofits permitted by the state.

Read the full article at KFSK

ALASKA: Alaska Natives, advocates hail state’s new restrictions aimed at helping chum salmon recover

March 5, 2026 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries is cutting chum salmon fishing by 30 per cent in southwest Alaska.

Alaskan Native communities, who have been facing increasing food insecurity from lack of salmon in the Yukon River for years, say the move is a good first step.

In the interior of Alaska, along the Yukon River, is Beaver, a remote village that has relied on chum salmon for years as a main food source. The closest grocery store is in Fairbanks, 170 km due south by plane, and food has to be flown in at a high price.

Rhonda Pitka is the Chief of the Village of Beaver. She said 2019 was the last good fishing year before the “Yukon River salmon crash.”

“The salmon sustained us for so long. It was our lifeline,” she said. “We live in these incredibly cold communities in the winter. So when we were fishing in the summer we will put enough away for all winter long and then we would have enough to share with our relatives in their communities.”

Read the full article at CBC

ALASKA: With Western Alaska salmon runs weak, managers set limits on the pollock fleet’s chum bycatch

February 17, 2026 –Federal fishery managers have approved the first-ever mandatory caps on at-sea interception of chum salmon, a fish species critical to Indigenous communities along Alaska’s river systems.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council on Wednesday voted in favor of new limits for the pollock fleet to reduce the amount of chum salmon accidentally caught in trawl nets, a phenomenon known as bycatch.

The compromise, approved at the end of a 10-day council meeting, addresses a yearslong conflict that pitted the in-river salmon fishermen and their Indigenous cultures against the economically important harvesters of Alaska pollock, the top-volume U.S. commercial seafood.

Achieving effective safeguards for Western Alaska chum salmon while balancing needs of all parties amid environmental factors that are out of managers’ control was difficult, Angel Drobnica, the council’s chair, said just before the vote was taken.

“This is the most challenging issue I’ve worked on during my time in this process,” she said, referring to her three years on the full council and six years on the group’s advisory panel. “I believe this motion is durable and enforceable and reflective of input from both sides and has maintained a clear focus on Western Alaska salmon.”

Salmon bycatch is a hot-button issue in Alaska fisheries. Total amounts of chum salmon accidentally caught in the trawl nets used by the pollock fleet can number in the hundreds of thousands — though the vast majority of the chum salmon intercepted in the Bering Sea in this manner is not of Alaska origin, according to council data.

While bycatch limits have been in place for several years for Chinook salmon, this is the first time managers have imposed limits for chum salmon. Both Pacific salmon species are important to the Yukon and Kuskokwim river system communities, and both have collapsed in recent years, at times prompting complete fishing closures all the way into Canada’s Yukon Territory.

Read the full article at the Alaska Beacon

NPFMC rejects hard cap on Western Alaska chum salmon bycatch, but approves corridor closure to allow fish passage

February 17, 2026 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) has once again rejected the salmon sector’s demands for hard caps on chum bycatch caught by pollock trawlers in the Bering Sea, though the body did approve some limits intended to reduce bycatch.

Alaska’s salmon sector has long sought stricter limits on the amount of chum salmon commercial pollock trawlers can take as bycatch, claiming that the industrial fishing activity hurts already struggling Alaskan salmon populations.

Read the full article at  SeafoodSource

Unalaska’s pollock industry anticipates upcoming chum bycatch decision

February 2, 2026 — The Unalaska City Council took up the issue of salmon bycatch at its two January meetings, ultimately agreeing to support industry-run bycatch avoidance programs.

Salmon bycatch has been a flashpoint for years. And the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees federal fisheries in Alaska, including in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, will now weigh in on whether to impose stricter limits on chum salmon bycatch at its upcoming February meeting.

That’s got Unalaska leaders worried the decision could threaten the pollock industry that underpins the island’s economy.

“This is one of the most important items in the last few years,” said Frank Kelty, the city’s fisheries consultant at the city council’s Jan. 13 meeting.

Kelty warned council members that proposed limits could have major consequences for the community, whose economy revolves around the fishery.

Kelty told council members that the pollock B season — which accounts for about 60% of the annual pollock harvest — is particularly at risk.

He pointed to one proposal that would cap incidental catch of chum salmon at 100,000. Kelty said under that scenario, the pollock B season would have shut down early in eleven of the past twelve years.

That, he said, would ripple through Unalaska’s economy — affecting processors, harvesters, city revenues and support businesses, like refrigeration companies.

Read the full article at KMXT

ALASKA: Unalaska’s pollock industry anticipates upcoming chum bycatch decision

January 29, 2026 — The Unalaska City Council took up the issue of salmon bycatch at its two January meetings, ultimately agreeing to support industry-run bycatch avoidance programs.

Salmon bycatch has been a flashpoint for years. And the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which oversees federal fisheries in Alaska, including in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, will now weigh in on whether to impose stricter limits on chum salmon bycatch at its upcoming February meeting.

That’s got Unalaska leaders worried the decision could threaten the pollock industry that underpins the island’s economy.

“This is one of the most important items in the last few years,” said Frank Kelty, the city’s fisheries consultant at the city council’s Jan. 13 meeting.

Kelty warned council members that proposed limits could have major consequences for the community, whose economy revolves around the fishery.

Kelty told council members that the pollock B season — which accounts for about 60% of the annual pollock harvest — is particularly at risk.

He pointed to one proposal that would cap incidental catch of chum salmon at 100,000. Kelty said under that scenario, the pollock B season would have shut down early in eleven of the past twelve years.

That, he said, would ripple through Unalaska’s economy — affecting processors, harvesters, city revenues and support businesses, like refrigeration companies.

Read the full article at KUCB

NOAA Seeks Comment on Bering Sea Chum Salmon Bycatch Proposals

December 17, 2025 — NOAA Fisheries is seeking public comment on a new draft environmental impact statement for four potential strategies to reduce chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea pollock fishery. Comments are due Jan. 5.

The document responds to a request from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to evaluate management options ahead of its February meeting in Anchorage.

Chum salmon, including fish from Western Alaska river systems, are unintentionally caught in the Bering Sea pollock trawl fleet.

Scientists and fishery managers attribute declines in Western Alaska chum to a mix of stressors, including changing marine conditions, competition with large numbers of hatchery-origin fish from Asia, commercial harvest, and bycatch in other fisheries.

For many Alaska Native communities, the downturn has caused repeated subsistence fishing restrictions, threatening food security and creating economic, social, and cultural strain.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

ALASKA: 2025 Alaska salmon harvest valued at $541 million

November 5, 2025 — Alaska’s 2025 commercial salmon harvest totaled 194.8 million fish, valued at approximately $541 million — a significant increase in both catch and value compared to the previous year, state fisheries officials announced Nov. 4.

Preliminary figures released by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) show that the 2025 harvest increased by 88% from the 2024 total of 103.5 million fish, which was valued at $304 million. The statewide ex-vessel average price per pound for all salmon species also rose compared to 2024.

Sockeye salmon accounted for about 58% of the total value ($315 million) and 27% of the total harvest (53 million fish). Pink salmon comprised 21% of the value ($114 million) and 61% of the harvest (119 million fish). Chum salmon contributed 14% of the value ($78 million) and 10% of the harvest (20 million fish). Coho salmon made up about 4% of the value ($21 million) and 1% of the harvest (2 million fish).

Read the full article at the National Fisherman