Commercial Fisheries
RSSCommercial fishing industry: Bristol Bay sockeye, BSAI pollock and crab, halibut and sablefish IFQ, Board of Fisheries rulings, NPFMC allocation
Southeast king crab quota rests on a figure the state's own report gives two ways
The assessment gives two rates for unsurveyed water. One clears the opening threshold; the other does not, and the report does not explain which was intended.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago3 min read
Bristol Bay's Nushagak opened late this year to protect its king salmon
Bristol Bay's Nushagak District opened weeks late this season to protect its struggling king salmon, delaying the fleet's access to the sockeye run.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
In Kodiak, Sullivan and Peltola agreed on the problems and fought over the fix
Sullivan and Peltola agreed on nearly every fisheries problem in Kodiak and split on what fixing one looks like: laws passed, or fish in the river.
by Alaska News2w ago3 min read
Southeast king crab registration closes Oct. 2 ahead of a Nov. 1 opening
Southeast Alaska crabbers have until Oct. 2 to register for the red and blue king crab season, which opens Nov. 1 with a quota of about 213,000 pounds.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Wrangell calls the Dungeness crab decline a disaster; the state calls it the plan
Wrangell declared a local disaster over Dungeness crab and asked for federal relief. The state cut the season by formula and did not use the word.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago2 min read
Three Kodiak westside sections now open until further notice; 54-hour period ends 6 p.m. Saturday
Three Kodiak sections are open to salmon seining until further notice. The period covering much of the rest of the area closes Saturday evening.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2w ago1 min read
Prince William Sound seine season ends Monday, after Friday's Cannery Creek opening
Prince William Sound seining closes for the year Monday night. The last openings reached hatchery waters that are usually off-limits to the fleet.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Unimak Bight scallop grounds close tonight with the season's 7,500-pound quota filled
Alaska closed Unimak Bight to commercial scallop fishing for the rest of the 2026/27 season effective Thursday after catch reports showed the 7,500-pound guideline would be met.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
West Coast halibut catch falls to a fifth of June's rate as NOAA adds a sixth period
The West Coast halibut fleet can't catch its full allocation — a sign of strain in a coastwide stock, near 40-year lows, that Alaska also depends on.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Alaska Fishermen's Fund appeals council to decide denied injury claims Oct. 14
Alaska commercial fishermen whose injury claims were denied get a decision Oct. 14, reached in a closed session before the council opens its doors.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
The Yukon's fall chum run could support a fishery, none has opened
The Yukon's fall chum run is big enough to allow a commercial fishery for the first time since 2019. The state hasn't opened one or said why.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Retention of Aleutian rougheye and blackspotted rockfish closed for rest of 2026
Vessels working the Central and Western Aleutian districts can no longer keep blackspotted and rougheye rockfish.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
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 AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Sand Point salmon fishery gets 131-hour opening in Stepovak sections
Sand Point salmon fishery opens for 131 hours Thursday through Tuesday in five Stepovak sections for purse seine and set gillnet permit holders.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Southeast geoduck season set at 264,000 pounds, first opening planned Oct. 7
Alaska cut Southeast geoduck harvest to 264,000 pounds this season, down 40% from last year, with the first opening set for October 7 pending toxin tests.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
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 AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Bering Sea halibut boats would get a catch cap double the rest of Alaska
Bering Sea halibut boats have gone five years with no catch limit. Regulators want to fix that, at roughly double what the rest of Alaska lives with.
by Walter AlaskaNews2w ago2 min read
Bering Sea pollock companies are hiring at an Anchorage event
Companies that catch and process Bering Sea pollock are hiring at an Anchorage job event Oct. 29, for jobs that pay a share of the catch.
by Bill AlaskaNews2w ago1 min read
Southeast king crab reopens for a second year after a long drought
Southeast Alaska's king crab fishery reopens Nov. 1 for a second year after seven closed seasons — a modest comeback, still barely over the legal line.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Chignik opens four districts to salmon fishing for 48 hours starting Monday
Alaska opens four Chignik districts to commercial salmon seining for 48 hours starting Monday as the region's weak king salmon run strains both fishing crews and conservation goals.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Norton Sound commercial salmon fishing closed for the rest of 2026
Norton Sound's commercial salmon fishery is closed for the rest of 2026 after most of the state's fish-counting projects failed, leaving too much uncertainty.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read
Kamishak Bay pink and chum escapement runs preliminarily below goals
Pink and chum escapement in Kamishak Bay finished below their spawning targets as the Lower Cook Inlet commercial salmon season closed.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Federal money will put naloxone and first aid training on remote Alaska fishing boats
A nurse whose son died of an overdose at sea started mailing naloxone to fishing boats. Federal money will now expand it across remote Alaska.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
NMFS closes directed perch fishing in the Western Aleutian district
Federal fisheries closed directed Pacific ocean perch fishing in the Western Aleutian district through year-end Friday after the trawl fleet's 214-metric-ton annual allowance was reached.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Southeast pink seining closes at 19.8 million fish; hatchery areas stay open
Alaska Department of Fish and Game closed Southeast pink salmon seining Friday after the fleet caught 18.7 million fish at the best prices in years.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
NOAA would let one boat take far more western halibut to get anyone fishing it
Alaska's halibut is not getting caught. NOAA wants to let a single boat take much more of the western quota to get somebody out there fishing it.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Kodiak salmon fishing extended into Sunday across multiple districts
Alaska Department of Fish and Game extended Kodiak commercial salmon fishing into Sunday across multiple districts, with closing times varying by area between 6 p.m. Saturday and 6 p.m. Sunday.
by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 3w ago2 min read
The paperwork behind 65 villages' share of the Bering Sea is up for renewal
Sixty-five Western Alaska villages hold a share of the Bering Sea. Keeping the paperwork current takes 36 hours a year, and it is up for renewal.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Alaska seafood headed to Europe needs a new certificate starting today
Alaska seafood bound for Europe needs a new health certificate as of today, declaring no antibiotics were used for growth and none reserved for human medicine.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Southeast Alaska's king crab fishery will open, barely clearing the bar
Southeast Alaska's commercial red king crab season opens Nov. 1 with a 213,076-pound quota, the fourth opening since 2006 and the second in a row after years of closures.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Southeast seiners get one 15-hour opening, in Sitka Sound
Southeast seiners get one 15-hour opening in Sitka Sound this week and nothing else. The fleet has thinned to 75 boats from 121 a week earlier.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Norton Sound summer crab harvest reaches 111% of quota
Norton Sound's summer king crab fishery landed $3.5 million worth of unusually big crab this year, even as the overall harvest limit fell 65 percent from 2025.
by Walter AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Norton Sound's commercial salmon season ends with the counting towers down
Norton Sound's commercial salmon season has ended early. With most fish counting projects down, managers say they cannot confirm a harvestable coho surplus.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago2 min read
Purse seining is finished for the year in Lower Cook Inlet
Purse seining ended for the year in Lower Cook Inlet. The Outer and Eastern districts closed at 10 pm Monday, and the advisory gives no reason.
by Bill AlaskaNews3w ago1 min read
Kelp that washes up on Cook Inlet beaches can now be harvested and sold
Kelp that washes up on Cook Inlet beaches can now be harvested and sold, up to 86,000 pounds. Beachcombers are still capped at 10 gallons a day.
by Alaska News4w ago1 min read
Kodiak salmon fishing ends Monday evening in Eastside and Northeast districts
Kodiak's east side closes Monday while the west and north hold through Wednesday. Karluk's king escapement last year was the second lowest on record.
by Bill AlaskaNews4w ago1 min read
Kodiak seiners got four more days, or one, depending where they were
Kodiak seiners on the west and north sides got four more days Saturday. Four Alitak sections got one. The order gives no reason for the split.
by Walter AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
Deep Inlet closes to common property salmon fishing for broodstock
Alaska closed Deep Inlet to commercial salmon fishing Monday to let a hatchery collect broodstock, with no reopening date set, cutting off Sitka fishermen from a key fishing ground.
by Bill AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read
Southeast's sea cucumber divers get a smaller catch this fall
Southeast Alaska's sea cucumber dive fishery opens Oct. 5 with a 1.4 million pound harvest cap, down 18 percent from last season.
by Bill AlaskaNews4w ago2 min read
NMFS closes Central Gulf cod for hook-and-line vessels 50 feet and up
On Sept. 1, Alaska's largest hook-and-line boats lose Central Gulf cod for the year, while smaller boats gain new cod access in state and Bering Sea waters.
by Bill AlaskaNews1mo ago1 min read
