Commercial Fisheries

Fishery council will study letting Southeast charters keep leasing halibut

Southeast charter clients can't keep a halibut over 34 inches, barring a rare giant, unless captains lease commercial quota. Managers will study that.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

EU extends duty-free quotas for pollock, cod and other fish through 2027

Europe will keep letting 340,000 metric tons a year of pollock in duty-free through 2027. That matters here: EU buyers take most U.S. pollock fillet exports.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Fish and Game closes two Southeast sea cucumber areas and raises the weekly limit

Divers took about all the sea cucumbers allowed off Gravina Island and in Zimovia Strait, so Fish and Game closed both and raised the weekly limit elsewhere.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read

Follows: Gravina Island sea cucumber divers get two hours as the area's cap nearly runs out

Southeast Alaska's commercial Dungeness crab season ends Saturday, a month early

Southeast's Dungeness crab fleet stops fishing Saturday after a fall season cut in half, capping a year with the weakest summer harvest estimate in 25 years.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read

Boats of any size can fish Chignik's last 229,000 pounds of state-waters cod from Oct. 31

Chignik pot boats caught nearly all of a cod limit the state raised by nearly half this year. The last 229,000 pounds opens to boats of any size Oct. 31.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

NOAA clarifies fields on Europe's new seafood export health certificates

NOAA clarified how to fill out Europe's new seafood health certificates. A few fields are optional now, and batch lists get a lot more room.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Geoduck divers get two more days near Ketchikan under a smaller Southeast harvest target

Geoduck divers get two more days near Ketchikan this week. Southeast's harvest target is about 40% below last year's, and two areas are still closed.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read

Bristol Bay fishermen get a guide to making their case for federal fuel relief

Bristol Bay's drift fleet is being told to send USDA its fuel receipts now. There are no payment rules yet, but early numbers may shape them.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Scientists back a 2.5% lower 2027 ceiling for Bering Sea, Aleutian northern rockfish

Scientists want next year's northern rockfish ceiling cut 2.5%. Boats fish well under it, but have already topped what scientists projected for all of 2026.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

NOAA Fisheries moves 475 tons of unused Bering Sea trawl cod, mostly to small boats

The feds say Bering Sea trawlers won't catch all their cod, so 475 tons are moving, mostly to boats under 60 feet. Their share has more than doubled this year.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Follows: Feds shift 1,000 tons of Pacific cod from trawlers to small boats and pot fleets

Fish and Game closes Kodiak's Ugak and Kiliuda herring waters a day before B season's end

Fish and Game shut Kodiak's Ugak and Kiliuda herring waters Saturday, a day before the B season's end, with about 30% of the season's harvest level caught.

by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read

Western Gulf pot boats' cod season ends for 2026, two days after they got more fish

Feds gave Western Gulf pot cod boats 600 more tons this month. On Friday, two days after the last top-up, NOAA shut their directed cod fishery for 2026.

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read

Follows: Feds move more Western Gulf cod from trawlers to pot boats, second time this month

Southeast charter halibut limit could shrink to 32 inches or less under 2027 options

Southeast charter anglers could keep halibut up to 34 inches this year. Regulators are now studying 32 or smaller for 2027. One operator calls 34 "rock bottom."

by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read

USDA will back loans of up to $175 million for seafood plants in $5 billion program

USDA says seafood plants can apply for federally backed loans of up to $175 million starting Tuesday. Its own program page still says the money is pending.

by Melinda Communities.News2w ago2 min read

NOAA invites tribes to weigh in on Norton Sound red king crab limits

NOAA invited tribes to consult on next year's Norton Sound red king crab limits, after this year's catch ceiling was cut by about a third from 2025.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

December rockfish opening set for Southeast inside waters as outer coast stays closed

Southeast fishermen get a December shot at yelloweye and other bottom rockfish in inside waters. The outer coast stays closed for the rest of the year.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Feds close Central Gulf Pacific cod to most trawl catcher vessels for rest of 2026

NMFS closed Central Gulf Pacific cod trawling to most catcher vessels through Dec. 31 to keep them under their 7,782-ton 2026 allocation.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read

State opens leftover South Alaska Peninsula cod to pot boats as jig catch falls short

Jig boats left 387,000 pounds of South Alaska Peninsula cod in the water, so the state is opening it to pot boats too Friday, then loosening the rules Oct. 31.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Kodiak herring food and bait fishery opens Oct. 26 with a 1,280-ton limit

Kodiak's herring food and bait fishery opens Monday with 1,280 tons up for grabs, 130 fewer than last year. Eastside still gets the biggest slice.

by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Cutter Munro returns from Bering Sea patrol that tracked three Chinese research ships

The cutter Munro is home after 112 days off Alaska, watching three Chinese research ships and boarding fishing boats. How many boats? It didn't say.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Feds move more Western Gulf cod from trawlers to pot boats, second time this month

Feds moved 200 more tons of Western Gulf cod from trawlers to pot boats Wednesday, the second shift in eight days. Trawlers aren't catching it. Pot boats are.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Trawl briefing leaves state board asking about its own waters

Fish board members asked if federal trawl science covers state waters. Not the state-run fisheries, it turns out. Trident showed a net that touches bottom less.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago4 min read

Feds propose syncing Alaska's sablefish season with halibut's hours

Federal managers want Alaska's sablefish season on halibut's clock, so longliners stop throwing back sablefish in the season's first and last hours.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Once-rare hybrid crab were nearly half of big Bering Sea males after snow crab collapsed

After the heatwave wiped out billions of snow crab, snow-Tanner hybrids moved in, reaching nearly half the big males last year. The rules have no box for them.

by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago3 min read

Gravina Island sea cucumber divers get two hours as the area's cap nearly runs out

Divers have nearly hit the sea cucumber cap off Gravina Island's west shore in two weeks, so the state is giving them two hours there Tuesday.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Follows: Southeast Alaska sea cucumber dive fishery opens with a 1.4 million-pound cap

Fish and Game closes Yakutat commercial set gillnet fishery for the rest of the season

Fish and Game closed Yakutat's commercial set gillnet fishery for the season on Oct. 15, matching the usual mid-October closing date.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Follows: Yakutat set gillnetters get another opening, but still can't keep king salmon

NOAA moves to renew paperwork for a Bering Sea trawl fleet down to 14 active vessels

NOAA wants to keep the Bering Sea factory trawl fleet's permit paperwork as is. The fleet it covers has dropped from 20 active vessels to 14.

by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read

Norton Sound salmon season draws the fewest commercial permit holders since 2007

Just 72 permit holders fished Norton Sound salmon commercially this year, the fewest since 2007, and king salmon missed every escapement goal in the region.

by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read

Federal managers move 700 tons of unused Atka mackerel to Bering Sea trawlers

Boats that catch Atka mackerel by accident barely caught any, so federal managers are handing 700 tons to the trawl co-op that catches it on purpose.

by Walter AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read

Federal managers bar keeping shortraker rockfish in the central Gulf for the rest of 2026

Feds banned most Central Gulf trawl boats from keeping shortraker rockfish after hitting the 2026 catch limit. The ban runs through Dec. 31, with co-op and hook-and-line boats exempt.

by Bill AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read

Many boats in the central Gulf must throw back Pacific ocean perch through December

Many central Gulf boats must throw back any Pacific ocean perch they catch through December. The 2,800 tons set aside for incidental catch is about used up.

by Bill AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read

Fish and Game lets tenders into Kodiak's herring B season with less than two weeks left

Kodiak's summer-to-fall herring season is finally letting tenders in, with less than two weeks to go. The B season opened July 1 and closes Oct. 25.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

State commission again proposes letting Cook Inlet setnetters fish beach seines

The Board of Fisheries put Cook Inlet setnetters on beach seines. Their permits don't cover seines. The state's permit commission is trying to change that.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Follows: East side Cook Inlet setnetters must prove recent fishing to stay in the fishery

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

A 45,000-fish cap on Western Alaska chum caught by the pollock fleet could be proposed as federal rules by the end of 2026. It would start in 2028.

by Maggie AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

North Pacific fishery council will consider new proposals at only two meetings a year

The council that shapes Alaska's federal fishery rules will consider new proposals only twice a year, saying it's short on staff. One critic called it a muzzle.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

Board of Fisheries to weigh closing Homer Spit waters to commercial fishing

Two Board of Fisheries proposals would push commercial fishing back from the Homer Spit, by half a mile or a full mile. The board decides in Seward in December.

by Alaska News1mo ago1 min read

Bering Sea pollock fleet nears its 2026 limits as salmon bycatch debate continues

The Bering Sea pollock fleet nearly has its 2026 limits. Yukon tribes say salmon fishing stayed closed; a tribal group says bycatch rules are years off.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

East side Cook Inlet setnetters must prove recent fishing to stay in the fishery

East side Cook Inlet setnetters get their own permit area Jan. 1. Want in? Prove you fished there between 2020 and 2024 and apply by Dec. 31.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago3 min read

Feds shift 1,000 tons of Pacific cod from trawlers to small boats and pot fleets

Trawlers aren't expected to catch all their Pacific cod this year, so NMFS is handing 1,000 tons to small boats and pot fleets nearly out of quota.

by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read

North Pacific council raises Tanner and Bristol Bay red king crab limits, keeps snow crab in rebuilding

North Pacific Fishery Management Council raised Tanner and Bristol Bay red king crab harvest limits for 2026-2027 while keeping snow crab in rebuilding.

by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago2 min read