Bering Sea cod trawl fee drops to 2.09% after fishery value jumps

Pacific cod trawl cooperatives in the Bering Sea and Aleutians will pay a smaller federal fee this year. The National Marine Fisheries Service set the 2026 cost recovery fee at 2.09% of ex-vessel value, down from 3.00% in 2025. Payments are due Aug. 31.

Two numbers pushed the rate down. The cost of managing the fishery fell about 17% from 2025, while the fishery's total value rose about 42%. The 2025 rate had sat at the ceiling, since federal law caps these fees at 3% of a program's annual value.

Cooperatives that miss the deadline can't transfer their quota, and won't get a permit the following year until the full fee is paid.

What the fees actually cover remains contested. The agency says the money goes to management, data collection and enforcement, but the notice doesn't itemize it. Testifying at the North Pacific Fishery Management Council's June meeting, Heather Mann of the Midwater Trawlers Cooperative said vessel owners started asking questions after the first invoices arrived in 2025: "What specific costs are we paying for? What enforcement activities were charged? How are these costs allocated?"

A detailed accounting is due in the annual Cost Recovery Report in May 2027.