Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Pelagic trawl debate returns as council weighs next steps on gear performance

June 5, 2026 — As the North Pacific Fishery Management Council meets this week, a renewed debate over pelagic trawl gear is drawing attention from conservation groups, fishermen and fisheries managers.

In a June 1 statement, Alaska-based nonprofit SalmonState urged the council to close what it describes as a loophole that allows pelagic, or “midwater,” trawl vessel to make contact with the seafloor while operating in areas closed to other forms of bottom-contact fishing.

“In the Bering Sea alone, 40 percent of all bottom contact by fishing operations comes from ‘mid-water’ trawlers,” SalmonState stated in its release.

“No one should be allowed to drag the ocean floor in protected, sensitive areas closed to that practice,” said SalmonState executive director Tim Bristol. “It’s far past time to close this colossal loophole.”

SalmonState operations director Ryan Astalos argued that if pelagic gear is contacting the seafloor, it should be managed differently.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

North Pacific council seeks public comment on pelagic trawl gear

June 1, 2026 — Federal fisheries managers are scheduled to take up pelagic trawl gear issues in Alaska’s commercial fisheries when they meet June 1 to June 9 in Vancouver, Wash. 

   Members of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) plan to hear presentations from industry, processor and research entities and research updates to determine whether further action should be pursued to minimize the impact of trawl bycatch on other species.

   NPFMC staff posted the June 2025 Pelagic Trawl Gear Innovation report for discussion at the June meetings. The council may also evaluate potential management measures to minimize the impacts of pelagic trawl gear in areas that are closed to nonpelagic trawl gear and address potential unobserved crab mortality, council staff said.    

    Trawl bycatch of salmon and other species in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska has prompted economic controversy for years, particularly from rural residents pursuing a subsistence lifestyle. The trawl fishery plays a significant role in the economy of areas such as Kodiak Island.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

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

North Pacific Fishery Management Council recommends big increase to 2026 Gulf of Alaska cod catch

February 11, 2026 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) has recommended a big increase in Gulf of Alaska (GOA) cod catch limits for 2026 and 2027.

The NPFMC’s latest action would increase the catch limit in the western and central Gulf of Alaska by 25 to 49 percent. The council’s revised recommendations would place the federal total allowable catch (TAC) for 2026 at 30,053 metric tons (MT), a significant bump from the 21,826 MT it recommended after a meeting in December. The acceptable biological catch (ABC) for the area was also increased to 41,250 MT.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Managers OK increase in Gulf of Alaska cod harvest after shutdown delayed analysis

February 10, 2026 — In a decision that was delayed by the prolonged federal government shutdown last fall, federal fishery regulators have increased this year’s allowable harvest of Pacific cod in the Gulf of Alaska.

The approximately 37.5% increase in total allowable catch was approved by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council, the panel that oversees commercial seafood harvests in federal waters off Alaska. The new limit approved by council members on Thursday totaled 30,053 metric tons across all three designated regions of the Gulf of Alaska, up from 21,826 metric tons tentatively approved in December.

Normally, the annual harvest limits for groundfish species like pollock and Pacific cod for both the Bering Sea and the Gulf of Alaska are set at the council’s regular December meetings.

Fishery scientists lacked sufficient time to analyze data from summer surveys because of the record 43-day federal government shutdown that ended on Nov. 12, so the council then wound up using 2024 recommendations to set 2026 harvest limits.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

ALASKA: Science symposium emphasizes Indigenous knowledge, finfish, kelp

February 9, 2026 — Gulf of Alaska maritime issues, from halibut and herring to kelp farming, were on the agenda during the four-day Alaska Marine Science Symposium in Anchorage from Jan. 26-30.

The importance of engaging Indigenous knowledge in policy making for fisheries management in Alaska was the focus of a presentation by Hekia Bodwitch of the University of Alaska Southeast, and Alex Jenkins of the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

They noted that historically western government leaders and scientists have excluded Indigenous peoples from policymaking and research, and that uneven power dynamics persist today.

In their studies they examined perceived successes, shortcomings and limitations of recent initiatives in Alaska’s fisheries management focused on engaging Indigenous knowledge. These efforts included those of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council and the Alaska Board of Fisheries. Their study involved interviews with more than 30 fishery policymakers and advisors, as well as analyses of policymaking meetings.

Those interviewed spoke of barriers to change stemming from legal frameworks, political-economic dynamics, and policy implementation challenges.

Some of these challenges reflect a mismatch between how Indigenous knowledge is typically shared and public testimony processes. Those interviewed also emphasized that Indigenous peoples remain underrepresented in policymaking, while their participation is essential in order to engage Indigenous knowledge to effect meaningful change.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

ALASKA: NPFMC to discuss unguided halibut issue starting Feb. 5; Comment by Jan. 30

January 30, 2026 — The controversial unguided halibut angler issue will kick off the North Pacific Fishery Management Council meeting on Feb. 5 in Anchorage. The action comes by request from the International Pacific Halibut Commission after its annual meeting earlier this month.

The action responds to a proposal submitted to the IPHC that aims to rein in unguided, private halibut fishing that allows individual anglers to fish anywhere, anytime and with no size limits – in sharp contrast to regulations imposed on guided sport charters. These DIY (Do it Yourself) businesses, mostly out of lodges in Southeast and South Central regions, operate by providing the vessels, rods, bait, GPS coordinates, etc. but not the personnel.

Read the full article at Alaskafish.news

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