Saving Seafood

WASHINGTON: ‘Real consequences’: Washington congresswoman questions Bonneville for ending salmon hatchery funds

July 16, 2026 — Washington Congresswoman Marie Gluesenkamp Perez is questioning the Bonneville Power Administration after the agency decided to stop funding a Columbia River hatchery program.

On July 7, the congresswoman sent a letter to BPA Administrator Travis Kavulla, requesting more information about the decision to stop funding the Select Area Fisheries Enhancement (SAFE) program after supporting the program for over 30 years.

Since the program began in 1993, the SAFE program has created commercial and sport fishing opportunities in off-stem areas of the Columbia River, the congresswoman’s office explained.

“This is a decision with real consequences,” Representative Gluesenkamp Perez said in a statement. “For decades, hatcheries have made sure there is a healthy population of salmon in the river. This isn’t abstract to people here – commercial and sport fishing is part of our heritage and our way of life. Supporting hatcheries is critical to sustaining the communities whose livelihoods depend on them.”

Read the full article at KOIN

June shelf-stable sales defy inflationary pressure at US retail; fresh, frozen sales affected

July 16, 2026 — Seafood prices continued their inflationary trend in June at U.S. retail, rising 4.1 percent in the fresh category, 7.8 percent in shelf-stable, and 12.5 percent in frozen seafood, according to Circana data analyzed by 210 Analytics.

Depending on the species, inflation was even more dramatic. For instance, frozen shrimp prices rose 18.5 percent year over year in June, while frozen crab prices increased 13.5 percent. In the fresh category, tilapia prices rose 8.3 percent, and trout rose 5.8 percent.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

CALIFORNIA: Calif. salmon fleet returns under limited season three-year closure

July 15, 2026 — California’s commercial salmon fleet is back on the water for the first time since 2022 following a three-year statewide closure, though the reopening remains tightly restricted as fishery managers work to protect rebuilding Chinook salmon stocks.

According to The Press Democrat, state and federal fishery managers reopened the commercial and recreational salmon season in late June after improved rainfall and snowpack during 2023 and 2024 boosted survival rates for juvenile Chinook salmon migrating from the Sacramento Valley to the Pacific Ocean. Those fish have now returned as adults in numbers sufficient to support a limited harvest, though managers continue to closely monitor catches.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman

CALIFORNIA: Salmon fishing resumes off California coast for first time since 2022. Here’s what that means

July 14, 2026 — Commercial and recreational salmon fishing has resumed off the North Coast after a three-year statewide closure, marking a long-awaited milestone for a troubled industry that has endured historic losses in revenue and resources.

Charter captains are reporting abundant catches out of Bodega Bay, and commercial boats up and down the coast are again unloading hauls of the prized West Coast staple for the first time since 2022.

Still, the reopening is far from a return to normal, industry veterans say.

This year’s season is heavily restricted with staggered openings and closings designed to limit the take on rebounding Chinook salmon returns. And fewer boats may be around to cash in, as some fishermen say years of lost income from curtailed and closed fisheries have driven some away from the water for good.

“We’re at a little less than half throttle right now,” said Capt. Mike Harbarth of Sonoma Coast Adventures. “There is strict management and they’re being conservative this year. We’ve all respected that.”

From his charter boat “Shauna Lee” berthed at the Porto Bodega Marina, Harbarth said sport anglers have managed to reel in their two-fish limits on most trips out. Some of those fish have weighed up to 30 pounds and Harbarth said they are finding “miles and miles of salmon” off the Sonoma Coast.

Harbarth, who has spent most of his life chasing salmon, remembers when California’s season stretched from late winter into the next fall – a far cry from the current reality. But, after three consecutive years of closures, the carefully managed reopening is a welcome start.

Read the full article at the Sacramento Bee

Bering Sea heat wave cited as trigger for nosedive in Yukon River Chinook salmon

July 13, 2026 — The intense marine heat wave conditions that began roiling the Bering Sea in about 2016 resulted in the lowest winter sea ice extent measured in 150 years, widespread bird and marine mammal die-offs, a drastic shift in fish populations and a crash of snow crab stocks.

Now new research is tying the marine heat wave to the recent collapse of Yukon River Chinook salmon.

A study published in April, written by scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Alaska Fisheries Science Center and University of Alaska Fairbanks, showed the correlation between the extreme heat wave conditions and the nosedive in Yukon River Chinook stocks. The heat wave was accompanied by a dramatic increase in deaths of older juvenile and adult Chinook that, had they survived, would have returned from the ocean to freshwater spawning grounds, the study found.

The study was published in the journal Ecological Applications.

The Yukon River’s runs of Chinook, also called king salmon, have been in a long-term decline since their past heyday, when they numbered in the hundreds of thousands and the river was one of the biggest sources of that salmon species.

The sharp downturn in recent years resulted in a 2022 return that was the lowest on record. Widespread fishery closures have been in effect for years along the Yukon River system in both Alaska and Canada.

Read the full article at Alaska Beacon

MAINE: Maine is exploring a path that could bring back Atlantic salmon fishing

July 13, 2026 — The Maine Department of Marine Resources is asking a federal agency to review whether existing endangered species laws could provide new tools to accelerate Atlantic salmon recovery, an effort the state says could eventually create opportunities for tightly controlled catch-and-release fishing if the species recovers.

In a June 4 letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service, DMR Commissioner Carl Wilson asked the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to evaluate whether authorities under the Endangered Species Act could provide additional flexibility to expand Atlantic salmon recovery efforts while maintaining existing federal protections.

The request comes after decades of habitat restoration, improved fish passage and river connectivity projects that have benefited Atlantic salmon and other sea-run fish, but adult Atlantic salmon returns remain very low despite those investments, according to Sean Ledwin, director of DMR’s Bureau of Sea Run Fisheries and Habitat.

Read the full article at the Piscataquis Observer

US bill would allow tribes to kill more sea lions along Columbia River

July 13, 2026 — A new bill introduced in U.S. Congress would authorize Native American tribes in Southwest Washington to kill some of the sea lions eating salmon in the Columbia River.

California and stellar sea lion populations have ballooned in the Pacific Northwest under the Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA); since 1950, the population has increased from roughly 10,000 to 250,000. Salmon are a major source of prey for sea lions, and the increased pinniped population has placed more pressure on the fish.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

AI, drones, and salmon: What new technology could mean for Bristol Bay sockeye counts

July 10, 2026 — Norm Van Vactor stands on the bank of the Wood River facing a mysterious looking grey box with blinking lights.

“So that’s the habitat and the home for our ‘bird’, and it’s a completely self-contained unit,” he said, pointing to the box.

At exactly 8:30 a.m., the box opens and a drone emerges. It quickly takes off on an automated flight path, flying to an observation position above the right bank of the Wood River. It hovers there for a few minutes, with its camera fixed on the river bed.

The goal is to feed the images into a computer model to generate more accurate salmon escapement counts. For over 70 years, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has used counting towers in Bristol Bay to track salmon escapement. That means techs hand count each fish that swims by. But new technology is on its way to the Bay, Van Vactor is a project lead.

“I feel strongly that there are some tools out there, like this, that could significantly enhance the quality of our data collection that helps manage this fishery,” he said. Van Vactor noted that this project wouldn’t have been possible just a few years ago.

Read the full article at Alaska Public Media

WASHINGTON: Fewer sockeye are returning to the Upper Columbia. Washington closed its fishery to protect the salmon

July 10, 2026 – It’s a tough year for sockeye salmon in the Upper Columbia River. So few sockeye are returning to their spawning grounds that Washington isn’t allowing sockeye fishing from Priest Rapids Dam to Chief Joseph Dam. The season was supposed to open July 1.

It’s hard to predict just how many salmon will return in any given year, but fishery managers said they were shocked with how few sockeye reached Bonneville Dam.

They expected around 275,000 sockeye. Now, the forecast looks like fewer than 80,000 fish will return. That’s about 71% fewer sockeye.

These fish that migrate in the summer naturally have booms and busts. Recent low returns happened in 2011, 2018, 2019 and 2021. Some of the highest counts came in 2022 and 2024.

However, this few sockeye is troubling, said Chad Jackson, a fish biologist in north central Washington for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Read the full article at NWPB 

ALASKA: Fleet shifts to Naknek-Kvichak as Bristol Bay nears 29 million

July 9, 2026 — Bristol Bay’s 2026 sockeye salmon run continued to build Monday, with the total run approaching 29 million fish as fishermen increasingly reposition toward the Naknek-Kvichak District for the next phase of the season.

According to the latest update from KDLG’s Bristol Bay fisheries report, the bay-wide run reached 28.78 million sockeye through July 7, with fishermen harvesting 1.15 million fish on Monday. The cumulative catch now stands at 17.95 million sockeye, while total escapement has climbed to 731,947 fish for the day.

Egegik again led all districts with a daily harvest of 492,817 sockeye, pushing its season catch to 5.94 million fish. The district’s total run has now reached 7.5 million fish, nearing its preseason forecast of 8.9 million.

Read the full article at National Fisherman