Saving Seafood

ALASKA: Fish & Game confirms pink and chum egg take cap for hatcheries

November 4, 2026 — Alaska hatchery operators have agreed to place a cap on the amount of eggs they can take from pink and chum salmon for the next five years. The Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Doug Vincent-Lang, announced the news at the Board of Fisheries’ work session on Oct. 28.

Every aquaculture association in Alaska signed on to the agreement, except for the Valdez Fisheries Development Association. But Vincent-Lang said at the work session that he won’t approve permit increases for any hatcheries for the duration of the moratorium, even if they didn’t sign on.

“I just wanted to make sure everybody was aware that this is signed and it’s in place, and we follow through on our commitment as a department,” Vincent-Lang said.

Read the full article at KMXT

ALASKA: Board of Fish agenda heavy with hatchery issues

October 16, 2018 — The Alaska Board of Fisheries will kick off its annual work session in Anchorage Monday and salmon hatcheries will once again be a prominent topic of discussion. The board will consider whether to add issues surrounding production levels to future agendas and it will kick off a broader discussion on the hatchery industry Tuesday.

Disagreements over salmon hatcheries have been roiling over the past few years, and those arguments have played out at Board of Fish meetings.

Hatchery opponents want the Alaska Department of Fish and Game to conduct more studies on the effects of hatchery fish spawning with wild populations and to start examining potential ocean carrying capacity issues. The department is currently in the midst of a large hatchery-wild spawning study.

Hatchery operators point to that as an example of due diligence by the department. Operators like Cook Inlet Aquaculture Executive Director Gary Fandrei say they’re ready for the board’s broad discussion on the state of hatcheries Tuesday afternoon, which may touch on some of those issues.

“We’re prepared for it. The hatchery programs are based on good sound science and we follow those principals,” Fandrei said. “They’re well regulated by the Department of Fish and Game, and we believe we are above board with everything we’re doing.”

An emergency petition back in March sparked the board’s discussion. The petition asked the board to look into Prince William Sound pinks that have been straying into lower Cook Inlet streams.

Valdez Fisheries Development Association Executive Director Mike Wells thinks the discussion will help the public better understand how hatcheries operate.

Read the full story at KBBI