Commercial Fisheries

New EU seafood paperwork lands Sept. 3, and it is not the only change

New EU seafood export certificates take effect Sept. 3. For Alaska's wild-caught fish and crab, the bigger change is a separate catch-documentation overhaul.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Sand Point salmon fishery opens Wednesday for 109 hours, the longest window of the string

Sand Point's salmon fishery opens for about 109 more hours this week, shaped by a strategy that protects immature salmon in the Shumagin Islands.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Sand Point fishermen get 61 hours on the water — in a fishery the rest of Alaska watches closely

Kodiak salmon fishing extended again, running through Wednesday evening

Kodiak boats get a second 48-hour extension, running through 6 pm Wednesday. The Chinook nonretention rule stays in place across the whole area.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago2 min read

Prince William Sound's seine fishery stays closed, its next opening tied to hatchery returns

Prince William Sound's purse seine fishery stays closed with no opening set. Its next opening now depends on salmon returns to the hatcheries, not a fixed date.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Copper River gillnetters get a 12-hour opener Monday, half the last period

Copper River and Bering River gillnetters get 12 hours Monday, half of last week's opener, as Fish and Game tries to keep building early salmon escapement.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Alaska's seat on the halibut commission is open, and you can nominate yourself

Alaska's seat on the commission that sets Pacific halibut catch limits is open. Nominations close Sept. 14, and self-nominations are accepted.

by Maggie AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

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 AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Alaska managers open some salmon fisheries and close others as runs diverge

Alaska fishery managers opened some salmon fisheries and closed others the same week, each call turning on how the fish are running in that particular place.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Sand Point salmon fishing extended 48 hours through Sunday night

Sand Point boats get 48 more hours of salmon fishing, through 9 pm Sunday. The state published no catch or escapement figures explaining why.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Kotzebue chum fishermen got a second buyer for the season's last week

Kotzebue chum fishermen had two buyers for the season's final six openings, after weeks with one. The regulatory season closes Aug. 31.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Follows: Kotzebue chum fishermen get a better price but have just one buyer left

Eight Alaska fishery disaster requests are past the deadline federal law sets

Eight Alaska fishing communities are owed federal disaster relief the law says is already overdue, and until the decisions come, no one gets paid.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

A sharp cut to West Coast salmon limits lands on fish Alaska shares

Federal managers cut West Coast Chinook troll limits by three-quarters, and because the salmon are shared, mixed stocks, the change reaches Alaska's runs too.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Bristol Bay 2027 sockeye forecast to fall below 50 million, ending an 11-year run

Bristol Bay's sockeye run is forecast at 44.2 million for 2027, which would end an eleven-year streak above 50 million. The state still grades that strong.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Juneau-area gillnetters get another opener, but directed king fishing stays closed on low abundance

Juneau-area gillnetters get another opener through Wednesday, but directed king fishing stays closed across four Southeast districts on low king numbers.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Follows: A weak sockeye return has managers ready to open a Juneau-area fishery on six hours' notice

A weak sockeye return has managers ready to open a Juneau-area fishery on six hours' notice

A weak Speel Lake sockeye return near Juneau has managers ready to open a terminal fishery on six hours' notice. Escapement is below its goal range.

by Bill AlaskaNewsadded 2mo ago1 min read

Follows: A Petersburg-area drift gillnet fishery opens for about 40 hours

Southeast gillnetters ride a strong pink run, with the season about to turn toward coho

Southeast gillnetters are working a strong pink salmon season, with several areas open into Thursday and the focus set to turn toward coho later this month.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Southeast seiners get another opening, with one district carrying a below-forecast pink season

Southeast seiners get another opening Tuesday, with one district carrying more than half the catch in a pink season running below the regionwide forecast.

by Walter AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Cook Inlet drift gillnetters drop to two days a week as the sockeye catch thins out

Cook Inlet drift gillnetters are down to Mondays and Thursdays for the season, after two openings in a row each took under 1% of the sockeye harvest.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Yukon fall salmon fishing closes at the peak of the season, not for a weak run but to meet Canada's share

Yukon fall salmon fishing closed at the peak of the season for Interior households — not for a weak run, but because Canada's treaty share has to pass first.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

Kodiak westside, Afognak and Alitak sections get a 45-hour extension

Kodiak commercial salmon fishing extended 45 hours into Monday, Aug. 17 at 6 p.m. across westside, Afognak and Alitak sections under state emergency order.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago1 min read

Prince William Sound seiners get 12 hours Sunday across six districts

Twelve hours, six districts, 8 am to 8 pm Sunday. Escapement finally looks good enough that Fish and Game is talking about every-other-day openings.

by Bill AlaskaNews2mo ago2 min read

NOAA is looking for a fishing boat to carry its scientists across the Gulf and Aleutians

NOAA is hiring an Alaska fishing boat to carry its scientists on a 55-day voyage across the Gulf and Aleutians, running the survey that helps set catch limits.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Deep Inlet reopens to the commercial fleet after the hatchery takes its cut

Alaska reopened Deep Inlet to commercial salmon fishing after the state hatchery finished cost-recovery operations, ending a closure that began June 28.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Chignik fishermen get a five-day opening, but most of the area stays closed on weak runs

Chignik Bay and Central districts open for commercial salmon Aug. 17-21, but the window is provisional and most other Chignik areas stay closed due to low pink and chum counts.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Gillnetters near Ketchikan and Haines get an extra day on the water

Drift gillnetters near Ketchikan and Haines got an extra day on the water this week, with some inlets and canal waters closed off in exchange.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

From California to Southeast Alaska, salmon fisheries are closing in lockstep this week — under the same treaty

Southeast Alaska's king troll fishery hit its treaty cap and closed the same week West Coast fisheries are closing — all tied to the same shared Chinook.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

The panels that shape Alaska's pollock and cod catch limits meet next month

The scientific panels that shape catch limits for Alaska's pollock, cod and rockfish meet Sept. 8-11 to start setting what the fleet can take in 2027 and 2028.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Kamishak District closed to seining after survey found fewer pinks

Alaska closes the Kamishak District to commercial salmon seining Wednesday night after an aerial survey found fewer pink salmon than expected in Lower Cook Inlet.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Sand Point fishermen get 61 hours on the water — in a fishery the rest of Alaska watches closely

Sand Point fishermen get 61 hours on the water — in an Area M fishery watched across Alaska for catching chum bound for the struggling Yukon and Kuskokwim.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Prince William Sound's purse seine fleet stays closed, waiting on weather

Prince William Sound's seine fleet stays closed, grounded because the weather's too poor to fly the aerial surveys Fish and Game needs before it will open.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A Petersburg-area drift gillnet fishery opens for about 40 hours

The state will open a fishing section near Petersburg to about 40 hours of unrestricted drift gillnet fishing, from Tuesday evening through Thursday noon.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

ADF&G closes Northern District set gillnet fishing for 12 hours Monday

Alaska closes Northern District set gillnet fishing for 12 hours Monday to protect coho salmon escapement into Cook Inlet streams.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Alaska Peninsula salmon fishing keeps opening and closing as managers work around sockeye returns

Alaska Peninsula salmon fishing keeps opening and closing — 20 advisories in this season — as managers work around sockeye returns near Port Moller.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

The state will renew a Sitka hatchery's Deep Inlet lease for 10 years, not the 25 it wanted

The state will renew a Sitka hatchery's Deep Inlet net pen lease for 10 years, less than half the 25 it asked for, and the notice doesn't say why.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read

Lower Cook Inlet seiners are shut down while set netters keep fishing, days before the season ends

Lower Cook Inlet's purse seiners are shut down while set netters in the same district keep fishing, right as the salmon season closes out Aug. 15.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

Kotzebue chum fishermen get a better price but have just one buyer left

Kotzebue chum fishermen are getting nearly 20 cents more a pound this season, but with only one registered buyer left, their market now hinges on a single company.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read

A weak coho run just shut down federal commercial salmon fishing in Cook Inlet

A weak coho run just closed commercial salmon fishing in Cook Inlet's federal waters through Aug. 15, and the low cap is already squeezing state gillnetters.

by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read

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 AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read

Sullivan leads a push to sanction ships supplying China's fleet

Nine senators led by Sullivan asked Treasury to sanction 29 ships supplying China's fishing fleet over its illegal catch. Treasury hasn't acted.

by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read

Alaska's one-boat state crab fishery reopens as offshore quota rises

Alaska's tiny state-waters golden king crab fishery reopens — one boat fished it last year — while the far larger offshore quota climbs 13%.

by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read