Bycatch
RSSTrawl bycatch politics: chinook and chum salmon taken in pollock and cod fisheries, PSC limit negotiations, Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska observer reports, subsistence-trawl tension
Bronson calls for bottom trawling ban in state waters at Kodiak fisheries debate
Dave Bronson called for banning bottom trawling in Alaska's three-mile state waters, the only gubernatorial candidate to propose the measure at a Kodiak debate.
by Walter AlaskaNews22h ago2 min readAI
Pollock official puts bycatch impact on Western Alaska runs at 1.9%
Pollock fishing in the Bering Sea reduces Western Alaska salmon returns by 1.9% on average, but a proposed cap on chum bycatch won't take effect until 2028 and tribal groups say it's still not enough.
by Bill AlaskaNews2d ago2 min readAI
A second Southeast area hits its lingcod limit in two weeks
For the second time in two weeks, Southeast longliners must start throwing lingcod back as another area hits its seasonal limit. The state calls it routine.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min readAI
Pollock fleet holds an Anchorage job fair days before a bycatch-shaped election
Days before the final vote, the Bering Sea pollock fleet holds an Anchorage job fair — as salmon bycatch, and a new mandatory chum cap, roil the 2026 campaign.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min readAI
Regulators shift unused halibut allowance to Bering Sea trawlers
Regulators shifted unused halibut bycatch to Bering Sea trawlers' cod season, reviving the bycatch fight as halibut stocks sit near record lows.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 1mo ago2 min readAI
A halibut-bycatch report is dropped for the Bering Sea's biggest bycatch fleet
A paperwork notice drops a halibut-bycatch report on the Bering Sea fleet that kills the most halibut, just as a hard-won rule began reining that bycatch in.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Begich bill would make Alaska trawlers carry salmon excluder gear
Alaska's delegation wants trawlers to carry salmon excluders and seafloor sensors, as bycatch keeps killing Chinook from western Alaska's collapsed runs.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
The state ordered Cook Inlet setnetters onto gear their permits don't allow
Alaska ordered Cook Inlet setnetters onto gear their permits don't allow, deepening a years-long squeeze on a fishery it controls in state waters.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min readAI
Western Alaska leaders take food security to a circumpolar assembly
Western Alaska tribal leaders are in Nunavut for the first circumpolar Inuit assembly in nearly a decade, with food security high on the agenda.
by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min readAI
Pollock fleet's groundfish bycatch fell below 1% in 2025, but salmon bycatch rose as warm water pushed fish onto the shelf
Pollock fleet's groundfish bycatch hit a 25-year low in 2025, but salmon catches rose as warm water pushed fish onto the shelf, alarming tribal subsistence advocates.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min readAI
Council sends Kodiak Tanner crab closure to second initial review with preliminary preferred alternative
North Pacific Fishery Management Council advanced Tanner crab protection measures to a second review, selecting non-pelagic trawl restrictions while keeping closure options open for further analysis.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago4 min readAI
Pollock fleet asked to repeat voluntary crab closures in 2027 after proof-of-concept season
Alaska's pollock fleet will continue voluntary crab closures in 2027 after a 2026 test season showed the program works, with minimal bycatch when closures were active.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min readAI
Council votes 8-3 to study halibut bycatch rules for Golden Fleece replacement vessel
Council voted to study stripping a replacement vessel of halibut bycatch exemptions granted to the Golden Fleece in 2007, citing historic lows in Gulf of Alaska halibut stocks.
by Alaska Newsadded 2mo ago2 min readAI
North Pacific council directs Ecosystem Committee to revise 2004 groundfish policy goals
The North Pacific Fishery Management Council is updating 2004 groundfish goals. Tribal groups want stronger protections for salmon.
by Alaska Newsadded 2mo ago3 min readAISullivan and Peltola, fighting over the same salmon
Sullivan introduced a bycatch bill he calls the most sweeping ever; Peltola, who's owned the salmon issue for years, counters with a tougher plan. The science is contested.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Sullivan's Bycatch Bill Wades Into Alaska's Hardest Fish Fight
Sullivan's sweeping bycatch bill targets trawl salmon catch — a real and raw grievance, even as federal science pins Alaska's river collapses mostly on a warming ocean.
by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago3 min readAI
A coho cap could close Cook Inlet's sockeye season early, fishermen warn
Cook Inlet boats are after sockeye, but the coho they catch by accident could shut the whole season — at a limit the feds set below their own scientists' advice.
by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min readAI
Alaska closes Yukon subsistence salmon fishing through early June
Alaska closed subsistence Chinook and summer chum salmon fishing across the Yukon River through early June, affecting twelve upriver communities where weak salmon runs have triggered multi-year restrictions.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min readAI
Board Restricts Fishing Gear to Protect Chinook in Chignik, Area M
The Alaska Board of Fisheries approved multiple gear restrictions to conserve Chinook salmon stocks in the Chignik Management Area and South Alaska Peninsula, including reduced seine net depth and area closures.
by Alaska Newsadded 4mo ago4 min readAI
Alaska Fishermen Report Salmon Declines Amid Bycatch, Management Concerns
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min readAI