Sablefish fleet faces compliance gap as approved release rule sits in federal limbo until 2028

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council approved a rule in April 2025 allowing catcher vessels to release undersized sablefish, but implementation is not expected until 2028 at the earliest because the rule has not cleared the federal regulatory queue. Under current rules, vessels are subject to fines if they release small sablefish, a restriction that does not apply in state waters or under the Pacific Council.

Bob Alverson, representing the Fishing Vessel Owners Association, put the operational reality plainly at the Council's June 5 meeting: "It's almost impossible not to have a small sablefish go overboard when you're dealing with 40,000 to 60,000 pounds in 3 to 5 days of fishing." He noted that last year's National Marine Fisheries Service report showed 241 individual black cod vessels making deliveries between Dixon Entrance and Dutch Harbor, representing roughly 1,300 crew members, and asked the Council to request assistance from NMFS in Washington, D.C., to try to get the rule in place for the 2027 season. Alverson pointed to staffing losses at NMFS as part of the delay.

Linda Behnken of the Alaska Longline Fishermen's Association echoed that concern, noting the issue has been before the Council since 2019 and that the agency is short-staffed. "There was a real expectation that would be in place for 2026. And now learning 2028, I can tell you there'll be a real ramped-up frustration over that." Behnken asked the Council to do anything it could to bring additional resources to the table to get the rule implemented sooner. She also noted that the freezer longliner fleet has historically been allowed to release small sablefish, while the catcher vessel fleet has been required to retain them; that regulatory distinction is what the April 2025 action was meant to resolve.

Public testimony at the June 5 meeting covered a range of other agenda items, including observer program requirements, roe calculation regulations, crab delivery requirements, prohibited species catch disposition, and salmon bycatch, in addition to the sablefish delay.