Prince William Sound noncommercial shrimp fishery will not reopen in 2026

Shrimpers in Prince William Sound will not get another opening this year. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game's Sept. 16 fishing report reiterated the standing status of a season that ended June 8: "The Prince William Sound noncommercial shrimp fishery will not reopen in 2026." The report listed no emergency orders in effect for the area, distinguishing the continuing closure from a newly issued emergency action.

A 2026 emergency order cut the allowed gear from five pots to two per person and per vessel, and shortened the open season from May 1 through Sept. 15 to May 1 through June 8, area-wide. The reporting deadline for Prince William Sound shrimpers was Monday, June 22. Harvest reporting for permit holders closed July 9. The Division of Commercial Fisheries separately announced that the commercial shrimp pot season would not open in 2026 at all.

The 2025 restrictions were narrower. That year, ADF&G reduced the noncommercial season to May 1 through July 31 with the same two-pot limit, then warned that permit holders who failed to file harvest reports online by Sept. 1, 2025, would be ineligible to fish in 2026. Area Management Biologist Brittany Blain-Roth set out this year's window in a February advisory: "The noncommercial shrimp fishery will open May 1 and close June 9." The closure took hold at the end of June 8, the last day of fishing.

Not everyone accepts that the fishery had to stay shut. Charter and outfitting operator Saltwater Excursions argues on its published 2026 regulations page that small-scale personal-use and subsistence shrimping under strict pot limits would preserve community access while still protecting the stock.

At a separate March 2025 Board of Fisheries discussion of statewide shellfish and Prince William Sound shrimp proposals, Forrest Jenkins of Cordova District Fishermen United asked the department to "source more funding to gain more information through pot surveys."

Blain-Roth's office, at 907-267-2186, is the listed contact. The report itself offers no stock rationale for the decision.