Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Bristol Bay sockeye run surpasses forecast as harvest nears 29.3M

July 23, 2026 — In a July 21 Bristol Bay fisheries update, the region’s sockeye salmon run has now exceeded preseason expectations, with the total run climbing to 44.38 million fish—surpassing the forecast of 44.05 million—while the cumulative harvest reached 29.29 million sockeye.

The baywide catch on Monday totaled 164,316 fish, nearly double the previous day’s harvest, while daily escapement remained relatively steady at 69,410 fish.

The Nushagak District added 14,689 sockeye to the harvest, bringing its season total to 8.97 million fish, while the district’s total run reached 15.1 million. The Nushagak River sonar counted 3,422 sockeye, pushing seasonal escapement to more than 3.11 million fish, well above the upper end of its escapement goal.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

ALASKA: A parasite that thrives in warm conditions adds to Yukon River salmon woes

July 23, 2026 — When Stan Zuray began noticing white spots, a mushy texture and a weird “sour watermelon” smell in the Chinook salmon he was pulling from the Yukon River, he knew something was going wrong.

That was back in the 1980s. By about 1990, he and others just stopped fishing what he calls “the ass end of the king run” because the fish were so low in quality, he said.

Everyone stopped fishing earlier than normal, he said. “You just get tired of the bum-looking fish,” said Zuray, who lives in the village of Tanana but still has his Boston accent after spending half a century in the Alaska Bush.

It was an ominous turn for a river famous for producing some of the world’s biggest and most prized wild salmon. Chinook salmon, also known as king salmon, is so exalted among the five Pacific salmon species that it is designated Alaska’s official state fish. And the Yukon River Chinooks were traditionally considered among the best of the best.

The culprit in the mushy, weird-smelling salmon was Ichthyophonus, a parasite found in oceans around the world, but a particular menace to the health of Yukon River Chinook salmon.

Zuray is known nationally as a featured character in the reality TV show “Yukon Men” and from his own YouTube broadcasts and a biographical documentary. Within Alaska fishing circles, he is well known as a former subsistence representative on the Alaska Board of Fisheries.

In the science community, he is known for his work as one of the early Yukon River Ichthyophonus researchers. He set up a program and documented infection rates at Rampart Falls, a spot on the river near the tiny Alaska village of Rampart, collecting data that has become critical to current studies.

Zuray said he could smell the infection as fish dried on racks in the traditional way and the parasite multiplied rapidly in the warm sunlight. He dissected samples and documented how Icthyophonus attacks a salmon’s heart. “I squish it in my hand by closing my fingers, and the heart will ooze out through my fingers,” he said.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

NPAFC reports lowest odd-year harvest of Pacific salmon

May 22, 2026 — Member nations of the North Pacific Anadromous Fish Commission (NPAFC) reported a total harvest of 425.7 million Pacific salmon in 2025, the lowest aggregate weight for an odd-numbered year since 1987.

Total numbers of salmon caught in the United States, Russia, Japan, Canada, and Korea rose 39% over 2024 but were 41% lower than the record catch in 2023, NPAFC said in a report issued on May 15 after its 33rd annual meeting in Vancouver, Canada.

More adult salmon are typically harvested in odd–numbered years than even-numbered years because pink salmon are more abundant in odd-numbered years, but in 2025 the overall catch was 25% lower than the recent five-year average of odd-numbered years in terms of weight and 27 percent lower in total numbers of fish caught.

The biggest national harvester was the United States with 378,800 metric tons, followed by Russia with 341,300 metric tons, Japan with 18,000 metric tons, Canada with 6.900 metric tons, and Korea with 205 metric tons.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

NOAA announces USD 99 million for Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund

May 5, 2026 — NOAA Fisheries has announced USD 99 million (EUR 85 million) in annual funding for the Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund, though the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is once again pushing to terminate the fund.

“The Pacific Coastal Salmon Recovery Fund has a strong track record of supporting states and Tribes in completing projects that support the economy,” NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator Eugenio Piñeiro Soler said in a release. “The projects help increase Pacific salmon populations, which sustain federal ocean fisheries and benefit tribes.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Southeast back to an average harvest goal for king salmon after last year’s low

April 6, 2026 — Fishermen in Southeast Alaska will be able to harvest about 70,000 more king salmon this season than last year. The state Department of Fish and Game announced the harvest goal for all gear groups on March 31.

“It’s not, you know, a great catch limit, but it’s a decent catch limit,” said fish biologist Dani Evenson, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. “Even though it’s sort of an average catch limit, it came as welcome news, because last year was the lowest ever.”

How many king salmon Southeast Alaskans can catch each year is determined by the Pacific Salmon Commission. The group oversees a treaty between the U.S. and Canada that ensures both countries can harvest the fish.

Alaska’s take this year is 207,400 king salmon, also called Chinook. That amount is in line with recent years. . .except last year. Last year’s regional harvest goals plummeted because of lower salmon forecasts in other regions.

Read the full article at KSTK

CALIFORNIA: California announced USD 10 million for salmon recovery projects

January 26, 2026 — The U.S. state of California has announced USD 10 million (EUR 8.4 million) in funding for salmon recovery projects as part of the state’s ongoing efforts to support the species’ growth.

“These investments are another step forward to help California salmon,” California Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crowfoot said in a release. “The projects we’re funding will improve the health of creeks and rivers across the state, which will help salmon survive through climate change and benefit all who depend on healthy salmon fisheries. I’m proud of this progress, with much more work ahead.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

Conflicting Ocean Indicators Suggest Moderate Returns of Pacific Salmon

December 30, 2025 — Juvenile salmon encountered a mixed bag of ocean conditions off the West Coast in 2025, based on an annual analysis by NOAA Fisheries and Oregon State University researchers.

The researchers examine 16 ocean indicators, from temperature and salinity to the quantity and quality of food available to juvenile salmon during their first months in the ocean. That is a crucial period for young fish as they search for prey to grow big and fast enough to stay ahead of predators.

Researchers refined the indicators through years of monitoring. They help fish managers anticipate how many juvenile salmon will survive to grow large enough to be caught in fisheries or return to rivers as adults in the next few years. The insight can help shape fisheries worth millions of dollars to the coastal economy and ensure that recreational, commercial, and tribal fisheries continue at sustainable levels.

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries

OREGON: Oregon fisheries try old technology to boost salmon returns

December 8, 2025 — On a tributary of the Clatskanie River, near Astoria, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife has set up a “hatchbox.”

It’s basically six large barrels: three that filter the stream water and three that carry trays of salmon eggs so the water can flow over them.

Tom Stahl, with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, said hatchboxes can be useful tools in the attempt to restore salmon to local waterways.

When salmon eggs in the barrels turn into tiny fish, usually around January, they’ll be swept into the stream. Essentially, the hatchbox protects the eggs from predators while they grow. Hatchboxes can also be used to bring fish eggs from other locations and introduce them into a new stream.

Older Oregonians may remember hatchboxes from school, where they were used to illustrate the salmon’s lifecycle. But over the years hatchboxes have fallen out of favor, largely because the fish they release compete with wild salmon.

Read the full article at the OPB

Congress tackles growing sea lion population in Columbia River

December 8, 2025 — The U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Natural Resources took on the Columbia River’s salmon-eating sea lion problem in a nearly 2½-hour hearing Wednesday.

After establishing the scale of the sea lion population explosion around the Pacific Northwest, the meeting looked at the effectiveness of legislative efforts to address the problem — mostly centering around killing them.

The killings had largely faded from controversy as other proposed solutions to salmon extinction have floundered, leaving sea lions as an obvious target. That culminated earlier this year when the federal permit that allows Northwest states and some Native nations to trap and kill sea lions in the Columbia River was reapproved without almost any opposition.

The reapproved permit allowed hundreds of sea lions that weren’t killed under a 2020 approval to be killed by 2030. During the hearing, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Skamania, questioned why more of the 716 that were initially approved to be killed had not been.

Read the full article at The Columbian

Most Threatened and Endangered Pacific Coast Salmon Populations Increased After Listings

December 5, 2025 — Most Pacific Coast salmon and steelhead listed under the Endangered Species Act have increased in abundance over the past 25 years, arresting earlier declines. These findings were published in new research by NOAA Fisheries scientists who have studied the species.

The scientists examined trends in 28 population groups, called distinct population segments, within five species of salmon and steelhead listed from 1989 to 2007. These groups represent specific geographic areas and genetic characteristics, and are the smallest units that can be listed under the Act. The scientists found that a majority of the population groups protected as threatened or endangered increased in abundance. None disappeared into extinction. Protected population groups also increased faster than unprotected populations of the same species.

“At the time of the salmon listings, there was a path toward recovery and a path toward extinction,” said Michael Ford, lead author of the new research published in Fish and Fisheries. Ford recently retired as a research scientist at NOAA’s Northwest Fisheries Science Center. “So far, we have avoided extinction and even succeeded in moving many populations in the right direction, but most are still far from complete recovery.”

Read the full article at NOAA Fisheries