Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Trawling and bycatch dominate political messaging in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race

August 17, 2026 — Trawling ships that over the years have incidentally scooped up and wasted millions of pounds of salmon and other fish have burst onto the forefront of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race.

Multiple Outside political advocacy groups with little public information about their donors are targeting candidates over their approach to limiting bycatch in the pollock industry, which critics blame for contributing to historic declines in Alaska salmon, halibut and crab fisheries.

Alaska fishermen have appeared in ads discussing the bycatch records of the major candidates, Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan and challenger Mary Peltola, a Democratic former U.S. representative.

Read the full article at Anchorage Daily News

US Senate bill would incentivize offshore wind development, despite Trump buyouts

August 12, 2026 — A pair of U.S. senators have introduced legislation to enable more investment in offshore wind development, despite U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan to buyout existing lease holders.

Trump has made opposition to offshore wind power a key policy of his second term, issuing an executive order pausing offshore wind projects his first day back in office. That order was ultimately struck down by a federal judge, and a subsequent order by the U.S. Department of the Interior pausing development over vague national security concerns has not fared much better in court.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Bill introduced by Alaska’s Murkowski aims to promote use of eDNA analysis in fishery management

August 10, 2026 — Federal fishery managers would start analyzing the DNA collected in ocean waters to help inform their decisions, under a bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. Senate, Alaska’s Republican U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said on Thursday.

Called the Fisheries Science Modernization Act, the bill would set up a system for the use of environmental DNA, known as eDNA, in fishery management. The bill would establish a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration pilot program using eDNA to assess fishery stocks, require NOAA to develop an agency-wide eDNA implementation plan and direct the agency to routinely collect eDNA samples and integrate that form of surveillance into its fisheries research and ecosystem monitoring.

Along with Murkowski, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, D-Rhode Island, is a prime sponsor of the measure. Cosponsors are Sens. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska; Jeff Merkley. D-Oregon; Chris Van Hollen, D-Maryland; Patty Murray, D-Washington; Angus King, I-Maine; and Adam Schiff, D-California.

Read the full article at KTOO

 

US bill would increase use of eDNA in fisheries management

August 10, 2026 — U.S. lawmakers have introduced a bill to increase the use of environmental DNA (eDNA) in fisheries surveys and management, claiming the technology is a low-cost tool that can better help the government assess fish populations.

“Without accurate stock assessments, we cannot make the informed, science-based management decisions needed to ensure our fisheries remain sustainable for generations to come,” U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) said in a release. “Environmental DNA is an innovative, cost-effective tool that will give our scientists a clearer picture of our fisheries while expanding survey coverage and reducing costs. This legislation is the product of extensive collaboration with NOAA, Alaska fishermen, Tribal partners, academia, and industry to modernize how we assess fish stocks using the best available science.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US bill would strengthen “Buy American” provisions for school lunch program

August 7, 2026 — A bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate would strengthen the “Buy American” provisions for the national school lunch program, limiting how often waivers can be used and expanding the requirement to other school food programs.

“It doesn’t make sense for American schools to purchase imported food when the very best beef and agricultural products are produced right here at home, including in my home state of Montana. Buying U.S.-grown agricultural products not only protects the health and wellbeing of American kids, but also supports our nation’s economy, American farmers and ranchers, and small and local agricultural businesses,” U.S. Senator Tim Sheehy (R-Montana) said in a release. “The American Food for American Schools Act strengthens the ‘Buy American’ requirement for schools to build a more secure domestic food chain and ensures federal policies back the producers who feed our nation, not foreign competitors.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Senate Democrats move to restore definition of “harm” in ESA in response to Trump order

August 5, 2026 — Democrats in the U.S. senate have introduced legislation that would restore the definition of “harm” in the Endangered Species Act (ESA), undoing the federal government’s attempt to rescind habitat protections for threatened species.

In July, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump decided to change the definition of harm, rescinding a 50-year-old policy of considering damage to the habitat of endangered species when regulating human activities and development. The U.S. Department of the Interior claimed the decades-old definition was too broad and blocked economic development.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US Senate bill would provide more funding for restoring salmon along the San Joaquin River

July 20, 2026 — The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources advanced legislation providing additional funding for restoring salmon in the San Joaquin River, clearing the bill for a vote from the full Senate.

If passed into law, the bill would triple the cap on funding available under the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act from USD 250 million (EUR 219 million) to USD 750 million (EUR 656 million). The original legislation was passed in 2009 as part of a settlement ending an 18-year-long lawsuit filed by the Natural Resources Defense Council, which blamed government policy and dam operators for causing local extinction of spring-run Chinook salmon in the San Joaquin River.

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

US lawmakers advance bill reauthorizing NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Office

July 17, 2026 — U.S. representatives on the House Committee on Natural Resources voted to advance a bill reauthorizing NOAA’s Chesapeake Bay Office on 15 July.

“The House just took a key step toward investment in the science, restoration, and education that’s essential to the Chesapeake Bay’s recovery,” Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) Senior Policy Director Keisha Sedlacek said in a statement. “We’re grateful to House leaders for advancing the WATERS Act and look forward to action in the Senate on the companion bill.”

Read the full article at SeafoodSource

ALASKA: Sullivan, Peltola battle for Alaska fishing vote in Senate race

July 16, 2026 — Members of Congress routinely post news releases on legislation they introduce and cosponsor, including for Alaska’s delegation, a plethora of seafood legislation impacting the seafood industry.

Once in a while, one of these bills becomes law. The odds are 1-3 percent.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, and former Rep. Mary Peltola, D-Alaska, who are both running for his current Senate seat, have issued news releases stating their priorities for federal regulations related to the nation’s federal fisheries. Many of their campaigns are focused on convincing Alaskans engaged in the fisheries industry that they can do the most to protect and improve benefits for Alaskans working in that industry.

Purchases of Russian seafood were blocked from federal school lunch programs by an amendment introduced by Sullivan, which passed the Senate in November 2023.  That amendment closed a loophole that had allowed Russian seafood processed in China to bypass the National School Lunch Program “Buy American” requirements.

In 2022, the Alaska Salmon Task Force Act, sponsored by Sullivan, Sen. Lisa Murkowski, and Rep. Don Young, Alaska’s all Republican delegation, was established as a federal task force. On July 12, 2024, the task force submitted its final science report on the complex biological, environmental and socioeconomic factors impacting Alaska salmon to the Secretary of Commerce, the Alaska Legislature and relevant congressional committees.

On June 25, Sullivan introduced the Bycatch Reduction Act, an updated version of bycatch legislation introduced by the Alaska congressional delegation in January of 2026, which remains in the introduced stage in the Senate and the House.

Read the full article at the National Fisherman