Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Newly proposed federal legislation aims to curb Alaska bycatch

January 15, 2026 — Alaska’s congressional delegation introduced legislation Wednesday that aims to reduce bycatch in parts of southwest Alaska using better marine data, technology and gear.

The Bycatch Reduction and Research Act, introduced by U.S. Sens. Dan Sullivan, Lisa Murkowski and Rep. Nick Begich, would address research gaps in environmental data and improve monitoring of fisheries in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska.

It would also establish a fund for fishermen to purchase updated technology and trawl gear to limit seafloor contact and bycatch. That’s when harvesters accidentally catch species they’re not targeting.

The proposed legislation builds on recommendations from the federal Alaska Salmon Research Task Force, which concluded in 2024 and aimed to better understand how humans cause declines in fish and crab species, including through factors like bycatch.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

Recertification of flatfish fisheries as sustainable challenged

January 13, 2026 — Adecision by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) to recertify the Bering Sea/Aleutian Islands (BSAI) and Gulf of Alaska (GOA) flatfish fisheries as sustainable is being challenged by commercial, sport, and environmental entities.

“Calling a fishery sustainable when its bycatch and habitat impacts are bankrupting the future of our ocean and fishing communities undermines the credibility of the MSC label,” said Linda Behnken, executive director of the Alaska Longline Fishermen’s Association, in a statement issued by the group on Dec. 29. “Alaskans are calling for an end to bottom trawling.  MSC needs to listen to the public and rethink its process.”

Karen Gillis, executive director of the Bering Sea Fishermen’s Association, contends that MSC’s certification of the Amendment 80 fleet raises serious questions about how sustainability is defined. “At worst, it enables greenwashing by giving industrial trawling a pass while ecosystems and coastal communities pay the price.

“When industrial trawl fleets receive sustainability labels while small-scale fishermen and subsistence users bear the consequences, the system is failing the very people and ecosystems it claims to protect,” she said.

The BSAI and GOA flatfish fisheries are a significant part of the state’s multi-billion-dollar seafood industry, with the estimated value fluctuating annually.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: New bycatch reduction, research act introduced in Congress

January 12, 2026 — Alaska’s congressional delegation has introduced new legislation aimed at improving data on bycatch reduction in the Gulf of Alaska Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

The delegation announced the Bycatch Reduction and Research Act on Jan. 7, saying the aim is to improve marine environmental data collection, prioritize technology that supports research, bycatch reduction, protect marine seafloor habitat, and enhance electronic monitoring and electronic reporting in United States fisheries.

The legislation is drawing support from commercial, sport and subsistence fisheries entities.

“As both a commercial fisherman and a salmon scientist, I see the consequences of changing ocean conditions and management uncertainty on the water and in our communities,” said Michelle Stratton, executive director of the Alaska Marine Conservation Council and a former member of the Alaska Salmon Research Task Force. “This legislation comes at a pivotal time. Our coastal communities and food systems need thriving fisheries, and for that we need thriving ecosystems.”

Read the full article at the The Cordova Times

ALASKA: Eastern GOA salmon trollers may keep groundfish bycatch

January 12, 2026 — Salmon trollers operating hand or power troll gear in the Eastern Gulf of Alaska may legally retain and sell bycatch of several species of groundfish taken incidentally during their fishery.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) officials on Jan. 2 identified those species as lingcod, demersal shelf rockfish and other rockfish, spiny dog, sablefish and other groundfish.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

Coalition of fishing groups, NGOs criticize MSC recertification of Amendment 80 Fleet

January 5, 2026 — A coalition of nonprofits, fishing organizations, and tribal groups are criticizing the recertification of the Bering Sea Aleutian Islands and Gulf of Alaska flatfish fishery, which includes the Amendment 80 trawling fleet, to the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) standard claiming the process lacked transparency and amounts to “greenwashing.”

The Amendment 80 fleet targets Akta mackerel, Pacific cod, rock sole, yellowfin sole, flathead sole and Pacific Ocean Perch in the Bering Sea, and comprises roughly 20 groundfish-trawling vessels. The fishery was recently the subject of a battle over its allowed halibut bycatch after the North Pacific Fishery Management Council voted to move to abundance-based management and reduce allowed bycatch, which lead to a lawsuit from the fishers that was ultimately dismissed.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Oceana appeals court ruling over Gulf of Alaska environment

December 15, 2025 — Oceana served notice on Monday, Dec. 8, of its intent to appeal a federal district court dismissal of its lawsuit contending that federal fishery managers failed to protect corals, sponges, and other seafloor habitats in the Gulf of Alaska.

The notice of appeal was filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

The international advocacy entity for ocean conservation, represented by Earthjustice, charged in its lawsuit filed in August of 2024 in the U.S. District Court in Anchorage, Alaska, that the National Marine Fisheries Service and the North Pacific Fishery Management Council have consistently failed to minimize adverse effects to essential fish habitats from bottom trawling.  Bottom trawling involves huge, weighted nets as long as a mile in length being dragged up to 15 miles along the seafloor, damaging and often destroying everything in their path.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

NPFMC cuts Gulf of Alaska pollock quotas by 25 percent, keeps Bering Sea quotas mostly steady

December 10, 2025 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) has slashed pollock quotas in the Gulf of Alaska by more than 25 percent for 2026 but has kept much larger quotas in the Bering Sea nearly the same.

During a council meeting held 4 to 9 December in Anchorage, Alaska, U.S.A., the body recommended cutting pollock quota from this year’s total allowable catch (TAC) of 186,245 metric tons (MT) to 139,498 MT. However, quotas in the Bering Sea will stay nearly the same as 2025’s TAC at just under 1.4 million MT.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

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: Government shutdown creates uncertainty for fisheries management in waters off Alaska

October 10, 2025 — For the organization that oversees commercial fisheries in federal waters off Alaska, the most significant impact of the federal government shutdown might materialize in December.

That is when the North Pacific Fishery Management Council is scheduled to issue harvest limits for Alaska pollock – the nation’s top-volume commercial harvested species – and other types of groundfish harvested in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska, such as Pacific cod and sablefish.

The Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska pollock harvests start in January.

To set the groundfish harvest levels, the council relies on federal scientists’ analysis of fish stocks in the ocean, work that is based in large part on scientific surveys conducted over the summer.

But during the shutdown, most National Marine Fisheries Service employees, including the scientists who analyze survey data to assess the conditions of commercially targeted fish stocks, are furloughed.

On Wednesday, the last day of the council’s October meeting, the members considered how to deal with scientific uncertainty if the government shutdown prevents completion of the detailed analysis that is usually provided in time for the December meeting.

Council member Nicole Kimball referred to a warning issued eight days prior by Bob Foy, director of the NMFS Alaska Fisheries Science Center, the organization that does the stock assessments. Foy said then that a shutdown lasting more than five days would compromise the ability to complete stock assessments and that a shutdown beyond 15 working days would “dramatically impact” those assessments.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

Marine heatwave ‘blob’ returns in Pacific, rivaling past events in size and impact

September 26, 2025 — In 2013, scientists noticed a block of unusually warm water detected in the Pacific Ocean between the Gulf of Alaska and the Coast of Southern California. This was recognized by meteorologists as a basin-scale marine heatwave (MHW), often referred to as “the blob”. This water mass hung around from 2013-2016 before re-emerging again in July of 2019 (known as Blob 2.0) and lasting 20 months.

In May 2025, the blob reappeared.

Rachel Hager, a spokesperson for NOAA Fisheries, said this new MHW has grown “approximately the same size as the contiguous U.S.” She added it now ranks among the top three largest MHWs ever recorded in the northeast Pacific Ocean since monitoring began in 1982.

Read the full article at KATU 2