Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Modifications recommended on retainable amounts of groundfish species

October 22, 2025 — Federal fishery management officials meeting in early October in Anchorage recommended modifying regulations that implement maximum retainable amounts of groundfish species.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) recently noted that there is broad support from multiple fishing sectors in the Gulf of Alaska and Bering Sea for moving forward with this action, adding that the analytical document is clear on the positive benefits their action will have for multiple fleets.

The council said its preferred alternatives would improve regulations that implement the maximum retainable amounts, as well as clarify their current regulations, make maximum retainable amount calculations easier, reduce regulatory discards, ease regulatory burden, and address medical, mechanical and weather issues that can impact those calculations.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

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

ALASKA: Shutdown threatens Alaska fisheries council decisions

October 2, 2025 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC), responsible for overseeing federal fisheries off Alaska, is navigating turbulent waters marked by both budget uncertainty and the government shutdown. NPFMC is one of the eight regional councils established by the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act in 1976.

After months of delays due to the Trump administration’s cuts to NOAA, the council finally secured its 2025 operational funding this summer. However, as Yereth Rosen reported for Alaska Beacon on September 30, a federal government shutdown now threatens to derail the science-based decision-making that the fisheries depend on.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Funding problems, shutdown force changes for North Pacific Fishery Management Council

October 1, 2025 — After months of uncertainty amid the Trump administration’s deep cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the council that manages commercial fisheries in federal waters off Alaska now has all the federal funding that had been allocated to it for 2025 operations.

But the North Pacific Fishery Management Council now faces a new source of uncertainty: the federal government shutdown.

The funding and shutdown complications have reshaped the council’s October meeting, underway this week.

Read the full article at the Anchorage Daily News

NPFMC executive director David Witherell to retire in October

September 15, 2025 — David Witherell, who has served as executive director of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council since June 2017, will retire at the end of October, the council announced.

Witherell said that his 33 years with the council have been an honor and a privilege that he is grateful to have been part of.

His retirement comes as the council is facing federal budget challenges, as well as increasing issues related to managing fisheries during complex climate changes. The council will be working over the next two months to choose a successor.

Read the full article at National Fisherman

MRA regulations face final vote at NPMFC’s October meeting

August 19, 2025 — Final action is slated for maximum retainable amount (MRA) regulations related to bycatch in groundfish fisheries at the Sept. 29-Oct. 9 meeting of the North Pacific Fishery Management Council in Anchorage, Alaska.

Current MRA regulations, designed to limit the catch of species closed to directed fishing while allowing for the retention of unavoidable incidental catch, have been identified as potentially complex and leading to difficulties in prosecuting fisheries, as well as contributing to regulatory discards, council staff noted.

The action under consideration was initiated by a council motion at their April 2024 meeting, following a review of a discussion paper developed and presented by National Marine Fisheries Service.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Vessel registration begins for Alaska crab fisheries

August 14, 2025 —  Pre-season vessel registration is underway for three Bering Sea commercial crab fisheries, raising optimism that there will be harvests of Bristol Bay red king crab and Bering Sea snow and tanner crab in the 2025-2026 season.

“That’s a good sign that all of the big three crab fisheries will likely be open,” said Jamie Goen, executive director of the trade group Alaska Bering Sea Crabbers. “I expect most crab boats will pre-register for the fisheries, in the hopes that the harvest levels will be higher than last season.”

“Last season, only about half of the crab fleet fished since the harvest levels were at historic lows after several years of closure,” said Goen, who is also one of two voting members from the state of Washington serving on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

“Crab harvesters are optimistic for a better season this fall,” Goen said. “The crab stocks looked healthy last season, and several captains thought the harvest levels could have been higher. In addition, we’re hearing reports from some other fishing sectors that come across crab noting there are lots of crab out there,” Goen said. “The snow crab population, in particular, may be bouncing back faster than expected,” she said.

“The industry is anxious to hear reports from NOAA Fisheries’ summer survey to see if it validates what the fishermen are seeing. The survey data will be reported when the council’s crab plan team meets the week of Sept. 8 to start the process of setting crab harvest levels before the scheduled Oct. 15 season start.”

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Fisheries council tightens its belt as funding comes ‘in dribs and drabs’

June 25, 2025 — The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, a federal board that helps oversee federal fisheries off Alaska’s coast, is scaling back operations due to uncertainty over federal funding.

The council meets five times a year to help set fishing policies, like quotas, regulations and bycatch restrictions. But federal budget cuts under President Donald Trump have whittled down the organization’s resources, forcing them to scale back their activities.

At a meeting earlier this month, the council said it had received less than half of its federal funds. They got another payment last week, but Executive Director David Witherell said they’ve still only received about two-thirds of their annual funding. Typically, the council receives full funding by March.

“This is a highly unusual situation that we’re in,” Witherell said. “We can normally be able to plan our meeting schedule for the year and not have to worry that the Council offices might have to close because we run out of funds to pay staff.”

The funding is disbursed by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of a four-year grant. This is the first year of that grant cycle — and Witherell said they’re starting from zero, with no rollover from the previous year.

He said the council has been told to expect another installment once Congress finalizes a federal spending plan. But for now, there’s no timeline and no guarantee.

“The funding this year has been coming in dribs and drabs, and it’s making it challenging to reserve meeting spaces and to know that we have the funds to host a meeting,” Witherell said.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

NPFMC says pelagic trawl gear impact needs further evaluation

June 17, 2025 — Federal fisheries managers have given the Bering Sea pollock industry until the December of 2025 to develop spatial closures for the 2026 groundfish A season to protect Bristol Bay red king crab.

The decision reached by the North Pacific Fishery Management Council (NPFMC) at its June meeting in Oregon is based on new winter pot surveys, tagging data and other recent data sources, the council said in its motion of June 8. The council requested information from the industry to be presented at its December meeting in Anchorage.

The council also acknowledged the lengthy Pelagic Trawl Gear Innovation Discussion Paper available in May and requested an update on the progress of that initiative at its meeting of April 2026, by which time the field study portion of the protect for catcher processors is expected to be complete.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

ALASKA: Trump’s cuts to fisheries science have industry and conservation groups sounding the alarm

June 10, 2025 — Alaska’s fishing industry and environmental groups don’t always agree. But this week, they were on the same side — both warning that recent cuts to federal fisheries science could jeopardize Alaska’s oceans.

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which helps set fishing rules in federal waters, wraps up its meeting Tuesday in Oregon.

According to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration officials attending the meeting, the Alaska Science Center has lost 51 employees since February — about a quarter of its staff.

“You can’t lose 51 people and not have that impact our ability to provide our products in a meaningful and timely way,” said Bob Foy, who directs NOAA’s science operations in Alaska. “It’s been a challenging process.”

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media