West Yakutat Pacific ocean perch season closed through year's end

Commercial vessels targeting Pacific ocean perch in the West Yakutat District of the Gulf of Alaska were prohibited from directed fishing at noon Wednesday, July 22, when the National Marine Fisheries Service closed the fishery through December 31 to prevent exceeding the district's 2026 total allowable catch. The closure is a roughly five-and-a-half-month shutdown that took effect without a public comment period.

The closure covers Statistical Area 640, the zone between 140 and 147 degrees west longitude off the Yakutat coast. NMFS set the 2026 total allowable catch at 1,993 metric tons, carved out 1,923 metric tons as the directed fishing allowance, and reserved the remaining 70 metric tons for incidental retention by vessels working other groundfish species. The Regional Administrator determined that the total allowable catch and directed fishing allowance had been or would be reached, triggering the closure. On the same day, NMFS also closed directed fishing for dusky rockfish in the West Yakutat District through December 31; that closure set a 150-metric-ton directed allowance against a 204-metric-ton total allowable catch, with 54 metric tons reserved for incidental catch.

Vessels are not entirely prohibited from retaining Pacific ocean perch. Maximum retainable amounts rules remain in effect, meaning a boat targeting other groundfish can still keep limited perch as bycatch; it simply cannot target perch as its primary species.

NMFS waived the standard public comment period because the catch data that triggered the closure only became available July 21, one day before the shutdown. Shannon Bettridge, Acting Director of the Office of Sustainable Fisheries, who signed the order July 21, explained the agency's position: "NMFS was unable to publish a notice providing time for public comment because the most recent, relevant data on catch of Pacific ocean perch in the West Yakutat District of the GOA only became available as of July 21, 2026." The agency said waiting for comment would have been impracticable and contrary to the public interest. The action is authorized under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.

This is not the first time the West Yakutat District has seen a mid-season perch closure. NMFS issued a nearly identical temporary rule effective July 16, 2025, also running through December 31 of that year, for the same reason: the directed allowance had been reached. Questions can be directed to Steve Whitney at NMFS Alaska Region, 907-586-7228.