Sen. Sullivan's Bycatch Reduction Act targets Alaska trawl fleets alongside new Begich bill

Rep. Nick Begich III introduced HR 9507 in the 119th Congress to address global illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, a measure distinct from the trawl bycatch and gear-restriction bills circulating separately in Congress and the Alaska Legislature. The bill has been referred to four House committees: Natural Resources, the Judiciary, Foreign Affairs, and Transportation and Infrastructure.

The Begich bill addresses fishing practices on the international stage, not the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska trawl rules that have drawn the most attention from Alaska fishing communities. Two other measures do target those waters directly. Sen. Dan Sullivan introduced his Bycatch Reduction Act in October 2025, calling it "the most comprehensive bycatch legislation ever introduced in Congress, with three clear objectives: protect Alaska's ocean habitat and fisheries, make bycatch monitoring and reporting more transparent, and reduce bycatch and habitat disturbances." Sullivan described the act as an expansion of the Alaska Salmon Task Force Act signed into law four years earlier. That bill would require salmon excluder devices, seafloor contact detection, and new gear performance standards on trawl fleets in the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Gulf of Alaska. A bill number for the Bycatch Reduction Act was not confirmed in available source material; readers can track its status through Congress.gov.

At the state level, Alaska senators Cronk and Yundt introduced SB 161 in April 2025, a bill titled "Prohibit Bottom Trawling" that would ban the use of certain trawl or dredge fishing gear in state waters, adding a state-level effort alongside the federal proposals.

Together the measures represent a layered push on trawl and bycatch rules, but the debate is not uniform. Public commenters in Alaska fisheries discussions have raised questions about whether new bycatch restrictions go far enough, with some expressing concern that the legislation may center commercial and sport interests rather than subsistence and small-boat communities. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council, which manages fisheries in the Exclusive Economic Zone off Alaska, would be a key implementing body if federal bycatch legislation advances.