Rules for a 45,000-fish Western Alaska chum bycatch cap are expected by the end of 2026

The National Marine Fisheries Service expects to release proposed rules and a final environmental impact statement at 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 February information sheet from the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

The council recommended the cap in February. If the Secretary of Commerce approves it, the cap is expected to take effect for the 2028 pollock B season.

The cap counts only chum salmon from Western Alaska. About 80% of the chum the pollock fleet catches as bycatch are not from Western Alaska, according to the council. Most are Russian and Asian hatchery fish.

The cap would apply from June 10 through Aug. 31 in a corridor north of Unimak Pass and be split among the fleet's four sectors. A sector that reaches its share would have to close half the corridor for the rest of that period. The cap and closure would not apply in a year after an index of Yukon River summer and fall chum runs reaches the 90th percentile, according to the council's motion.

The council focused on Western Alaska chum because their returns "have declined substantially in recent years and reduced or eliminated in-river harvest opportunities," it said in its notice of action. The pollock fishery accounts for about 99% of the chum salmon caught as bycatch by groundfish fisheries in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands.

The council also recommended changes to the pollock fleet's salmon avoidance plans. The changes would focus the fleet on avoiding Western Alaska chum, build genetic information into in-season avoidance and require more communication with salmon users, Alaska Native tribes, and tribally authorized consortia and fish commissions. To stay under the cap, vessels will use NOAA genetic data from past seasons and new in-season genetic data from the Bristol Bay Science and Research Institute. Alaska News previously covered the state's statement that its genetics funding made the cap possible.

More than 170 people testified before the council's decision, including tribal leaders and members, Community Development Quota groups, pollock-dependent communities and fishery participants.

Some Western Alaska groups had asked for more. The Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Subsistence Regional Advisory Council, in comments dated Jan. 29, backed a 100,000-fish cap on all chum bycatch, on top of a corridor closure triggered at 50,000 chum.