Saving Seafood

ALASKA: NPFMC poised to roll over halibut, crab bycatch limits for 2026/27 in December

November 26, 2025 — Each December the North Pacific Fishery Management Council sets the Total Allowable Catches (TACs) for all groundfish species in federal waters of the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska for two years. Those waters – from three to 200 miles out – provide over 60% of Alaska’s total fishery landings.

This massive range covers approximately 900,000 square miles and includes over 140 fish and crab species through six different Fishery Management Plans (FMPs).

The value of the combined groundfish fisheries tops $2 billion annually at first wholesale (the value after primary processing). Of that, nearly 75% leaves the state of Alaska and goes primarily to Seattle.

The North Pacific Council also sets the rates of bycatch that go along with all those groundfish catches.

Bering Sea trawl bycatch tops the allowed takes of snow crab and Tanner crab for fishermen

Crab bycatch numbers are indicated as individual animals by fishery managers, but to make things more confusing, crab catches by fishermen are listed in poundage.

For the 2025/2026 season, crabbers are allocated 2.68 million pounds of red king crab. That equals about 382,857 crabs based on an average weight of 7 pounds each. The allowable trawl bycatch for red king crab is 97,000 animals.

For Snow crab (opilio), the fishermen’s catch of 9.3 million pounds adds up to 6.2 million individual crabs weighing 1.5 pounds on average.

The allowable trawl bycatch for Snow crab is 12,850,000 animals.

For bairdi Tanner crab, the crabber’s pots can haul up a total of 11.25 million pounds – 10.12 million pounds from the Western district and 1.13 million pounds from the Eastern district. That equals 3.75 million crabs, based on an average weight of three pounds per crab.

The allowable trawl bycatch for bairdi Tanners is 3.95 million animals.

By far, most of the crab and halibut bycatch is taken by the Seattle-based Amendment 80 fleet of nearly 20 huge factory trawlers that drag the bottom of the Bering Sea for flounders and other groundfish.

Read the full article at Alaskafish.news

ALASKA: In waters off Alaska, fishermen struggle to keep orcas from their catch

November 17, 2025 — The orca pod that forages in the waters just north of this Aleutian island are quick to swarm any halibut boat with a skipper foolish enough to drop lines in their domain.

As the lines are pulled up, and fresh-caught fish near the surface, the whales, in a well-honed feeding ritual, pick them off the hooks.

Skipper Robert Hanson’s lines have been hit by lots of the killer whales that dwell in the Bering Sea. He has found the Unalaska pod to be the most savvy, skilled and aggressive — leaving just traces of halibut, the largest of which could have netted Hanson hundreds of dollars apiece.

“Most of the time, you get nothing. Sometimes a lip, or a half a fish, if they get full,” Hanson said. “They are particularly good at what they do.”

For the past 20 years, Hanson has sought to avoid feeding these whales and prospected for halibut elsewhere. But during a May fishing trip, Hanson dared to set his lines near these whales as part of an eight-day sea trial to test a new defense, an aluminum “shuttle” resembling a small submarine.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

Pacific halibut fishery gets off to a slow start with high prices

April 10, 2025 — Bad weather and some last-minute paperwork scrambling at NOAA Fisheries combined to produce low catches during the first weeks of the Pacific halibut fishery.

By April 1, just 3 percent of the 23.79 million pound fishery limit for 2025 had been harvested since the March 20 opener. That poundage applies to the catches for commercial fishermen, sport charter operators, anglers, and subsistence users along the west coast and British Columbia/Canada to the far reaches of Alaska’s Bering Sea.

Alaska always gets the lion’s share of the annual commercial halibut catch and for 2025 it totals 19.7 million pounds, a 2.7 percent decrease from 2024. Reports by NOAA Fisheries show that 873,366 pounds were taken by Alaskan fishermen through April 7, compared to 1,223,849 pounds taken during the same time in 2024, a drop of nearly 29 percent.

As always, the first fresh halibut of the year fetched high prices, although early information was sketchy due to the low landings. Many ports have had so few deliveries that the data remain confidential.

At Seward, prices to fishermen started out at $7 per pound across the board, according to Alaska Boats and Permits in Homer.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Pacific halibut fishery opens to reduced catches

March 21, 2025 — Combined coastwide catch for all users is down by nearly 16 percent, more than 18 percent for commercial fishermen.

The 2025 Pacific halibut fishery kicks off today, March 20, in regions spanning from the West Coast and British Columbia to the far reaches of Alaska’s Bering Sea. And once again, all users – commercial fishermen, sport charters, anglers, and subsistence – will get smaller takes of the prized fish as the Pacific stock continues to flounder.

The coastwide “total removals” of halibut allowed for 2025 is 29.72 million pounds, a drop of 15.76 percent from 2024. For commercial fishermen, a catch limit of 19.7 million pounds is an 18.02 percent decrease from the 2024 fishery. Last year, harvesters took just over 74 percent of their 28.86 million pound commercial catch limit.

The catch limits are set each January by the International Pacific Halibut Commission (IPHC), which has tracked and managed the stock for 101 years.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: Myriad commercial halibut fishing areas will see total allowable catch decreases this year

February 5, 2025 — Stakeholders in the commercial halibut fishery have been allocated a total of 19.7 million pounds of harvest for the 2025 season – down 18% from the 24.03 million pounds a year ago.

The decision to reduce the harvest came during the International Pacific Halibut Commission’s (IPHC) 101st annual meeting, held from Jan. 27-31 in Vancouver, British Columbia. The commission said the decision was consequence of reports of the lowest spawning biomass of halibut in 40 years.

Area 2A, which includes the California coast north to Washington state, got a 7.23% boost in its harvest quota – from 83,000 pounds in 2024 to 89,000 pounds in 2025. However, all other IPHC areas saw a quota cut.

Read the full article at The Cordova Times

Over 74 percent of Pacific halibut quota caught before Dec. 7 closure

December 12, 2024 — Alackluster Pacific halibut season closes on December 7 in fisheries across Alaska, British Columbia and along the U.S. west coast.

By December 6, just over 74% of the 28.86 million pound coastwide commercial catch limit had crossed the docks since the fishery opened on March 15, with a net weight barely topping 21.43 million pounds. Fishermen for the most part reported sketchy catches and lots of smaller sized halibut.

Alaska always get the lion’s share of the annual commercial halibut catch which this year totaled 18.47 million pounds, a 2.7% decrease from 2023. By the season’s closure, Alaska fishermen had delivered nearly 14 million pounds to fishing communities across the state.

Fishermen at Southeast, Area 2C, caught 87% of their halibut limit, the harvest at the Central Gulf, Area 3A, came in at 91%, 3B, the Western Gulf, at 88%, at 4A, the Aleutians region, 55% of the allowable halibut was taken, and the Bering Sea areas of 4B were at 31% and 43% of the halibut catch limit.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

Judge dismisses lawsuit that opposed halibut bycatch regulations

November 25, 2024 — In a recent decision, the United States District Court in Alaska ruled against a Seattle-based fishing trade group, Groundfish Forum, which challenged new federal rules affecting new limits on halibut bycatch in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

The National Marine Fisheries Service developed the regulations after a 2021 recommendation by the North Pacific Fisheries Management Council to limit bycatch from the groundfish fleet. Proponents say the limits protect halibut populations from the trawl group, which accounts for more than half of the halibut bycatch in the area.

Groundfish Forum, which represents a group of large trawl catcher-processors, filed a suit to stop those limits. They said the rules change the way halibut bycatch is managed, tying the cap to the abundance of halibut in the area: when halibut populations are high, the cap stays steady. But if populations dip, the cap goes down, by as much as 35%.

The fishing group said this puts an unfair burden on their sector, while other fisheries in the region aren’t facing the same constraints. They also said the proposed cap is unrealistic because it’s too strict to implement, which they claim violates conservation laws.

Read the full article at KUCB

Federal judge dismisses Alaska trawlers’ lawsuit that sought to overturn halibut limits

November 14, 2024 — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that sought to overturn new halibut bycatch limits on deep-sea trawlers that fish in federal waters off Alaska.

The lawsuit was filed by Groundfish Forum Inc., a Seattle-based trawl trade group, after the North Pacific Fishery Management Council passed a rule that reduces halibut bycatch limits for many trawlers when there are fewer halibut in Alaska waters.

The National Marine Fisheries Service, in charge of implementing the rule, moved to dismiss the lawsuit, and U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason ruled in favor of the agency on Nov. 8. Undercurrent News, a trade publication, first reported on the ruling.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

ALASKA: Pacific Halibut Fishery Closes; Commercial Catches Come Up Short

December 10, 2022 — The Pacific halibut fishery closed Wednesday (Dec. 7) after nine months of fishing.

The overall halibut removals came up just 7% short of the 2022 catch limit of  42.4 million pounds, an increase of 5% over the previous year.

That includes takes by commercial, sport, subsistence users and as bycatch in British Columbia, Washington, Oregon, California and Alaska.

Alaska’s commercial halibut fishery produced nearly 19.3 million pounds, 10% under the Alaska catch limit.

Read the full article at Seafoodnews.com

March 2022 Briefing Book available online (March 2022 PFMC meeting)

February 18, 2022 — The following was released by the Pacific Fishery Management Council:

The Pacific Fishery Management Council (PFMC or Council) and its advisory bodies will meet March 8-14 in a hybrid format with the Council and its salmon Advisory Bodies meeting in San Jose, California with live streaming and remote participation options. All other ancillary meetings will be held by webinar only. The Council is scheduled to address issues related to salmon, groundfish, highly migratory species, Pacific halibut, ecosystem, and administrative matters.

Briefing materials for the hybrid format Council meeting are available on the Council’s March 2022 briefing book webpage. .

For further information:

•Visit the March 2022 briefing book webpage

•Please contact Council staff

•See the March 2022 Council meeting webpage