Proposed rules for Bering Sea chum salmon bycatch cap expected by end of 2026

The National Marine Fisheries Service expects to release proposed regulations and a final environmental impact statement by the end of 2026 for a 45,000-fish cap on Western Alaska chum salmon caught by the Bering Sea pollock fleet, according to a council information sheet. The North Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended the cap in February. The measures are expected to take effect for the 2028 pollock B season, the sheet says.

The council's action is meant to address declining chum salmon returns to Western and Interior Alaska rivers and the subsistence fisheries that depend on them. The pollock fishery accounts for about 99% of chum salmon bycatch in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands management area, according to the information sheet.

The cap would apply inside a corridor north of Unimak Pass from June 10 through Aug. 31 and be split among four pollock sectors. A sector that reaches its share would have to close half the corridor for the rest of that period. The council said the limit and the corridor closure would not apply in a year when Yukon River summer and fall chum returns exceed set thresholds.

The council also recommended changes to the fleet's avoidance plans. They would require the use of NOAA genetic data and new in-season genetic data from the Bristol Bay Science and Research Institute, and more communication with Alaska Native tribes, tribally authorized consortia and fish commissions. Alaska News previously covered the state's statement that its genetics funding made the cap possible.

The council said about 80% of chum caught as pollock bycatch is not from Western Alaska. Most are Russian and Asian hatchery fish.

The council made its final recommendation after more than 170 people testified, including tribal leaders and members, Community Development Quota groups, pollock-dependent communities and fishery participants.

Western Alaska commenters had asked for more. In written comments filed in January, they proposed a 100,000-fish total chum cap paired with a 50,000-fish corridor cap and closure trigger. They wrote that the trawl fleets targeting pollock in the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska "have no limit on the number of chum salmon they can pull in as bycatch."