Commercial Fisheries
RSSCommercial fishing industry: Bristol Bay sockeye, BSAI pollock and crab, halibut and sablefish IFQ, Board of Fisheries rulings, NPFMC allocation
Ugashik posts above-average sockeye harvest as Bristol Bay ramps up
Ugashik District has harvested 79,000 sockeye salmon as of June 22, running ahead of the typical pace for this date as Bristol Bay's season picks up.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Silver Bay applies for a dock right in front of competitor Snug Harbor
Silver Bay is putting a dock right in front of Snug Harbor's waterfront on the Kasilof. Competition is the substance.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
NOAA Fisheries declined to list Gulf of Alaska Chinook under the ESA
NOAA decided Gulf of Alaska Chinook don't qualify for ESA listing — even as Chinook closures pile up across Alaska systems.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Cook Inlet's salmon season opens June 22 — and could slam shut early
Cook Inlet's salmon season opens June 22. The last two years so many reds came back they went uncaught — and the rule behind that is still on the books.
by Maggie AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Federal fishery disaster relief of $99M headed to Alaska after years of waiting
Alaska took four of every five dollars in the nation's fishery-disaster aid — and none of it has reached anyone yet, with 13 more disasters still in line.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago3 min read
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 AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Peltola releases Alaska fisheries platform anchored in factory trawling ban
Democrat Mary Peltola released a Senate campaign fisheries platform calling for a ban on factory trawling and tribal seats on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council. • Peltola, a former U.S. representative and fishing boat captain, cited declining salmon returns as urgency for the reforms. • The platform also proposes freezing the Federal Subsistence Board's current composition and expanding electronic monitoring for bycatch.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago2 min read
ADF&G issues Sand Point commercial salmon fishery advisory #05
Alaska's acting attorney general voided five South Peninsula salmon rules adopted in February over ethics violations before they took effect. • Sand Point seine fleet now fishes under older rules while the Board of Fisheries decides whether to readopt the restrictions. • The voided rules would have cut fishing time and area for seine and gillnet gear in the Shumagin Islands and South Unimak.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
NOAA Sets West Coast Halibut Season Opening June 23 With 261,211-Pound Cap
NOAA opened the 2026 commercial halibut season for West Coast waters June 23 with a 261,211-pound catch cap, a fraction of Alaska's much larger allocation under international management.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Bristol Bay Igushik set gillnet season opens June 15 with 15-hour blocks
Bristol Bay's Igushik set gillnet season opens June 15 with 15-hour fishing blocks, kicking off the summer sockeye harvest that generates most of the region's annual catch and revenue.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Satellite Tags Track Pacific Cod Shifts in Warming Bering Sea
Satellite tags are tracking whether Pacific cod are permanently shifting north in the warming Bering Sea or temporarily moving, data that will shape management of Alaska's second-largest groundfish fishery.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Both cranes on Cordova's Drive Down Dock are out of service at the height of Copper River salmon season
Bad timing for fishing season as Cordova Drive down dock crane is not up to snuff
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago1 min read
Kotzebue Sound crab opener set for June 15 with no buyers registered
Alaska opens Kotzebue Sound red king crab fishing June 15 with a 10,000-pound limit, but no registered buyers, forcing fishermen to sell directly to dockside customers instead of processors.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
North Coast Chinook Troll Fishery Opens 5 Days, Then Closes
Washington-Oregon commercial Chinook troll fishery opens for just five days, June 12-16, reflecting coast-wide salmon scarcity that also shapes Alaska's harvest limits under the Pacific Salmon Treaty.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Dunleavy was at Trump's signing reopening 500,000 square miles of Western Pacific to commercial fishing
The Alaska angle is about Antiquities Act precedent, not fishing grounds
by Cale Green3mo ago2 min read
Kodiak seafood permit bars waste deposits on seafloor
Alaska's new seafood processing wastewater permit for Kodiak bans dumping waste on the seafloor starting June 2026, ending a practice unique to Alaska that has left massive piles of bones and shells creating dead zones underwater.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Halibut anglers on Alaska charters now pay $20 a day — and the money is funding a decades-old battle over who gets to catch the fish
Alaska charter anglers now pay $20 per day to keep halibut in Southeast and Southcentral waters, a federal fee that funds the charter sector's purchase of commercial fishing quota to expand their halibut allocation.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Bristol Bay fishery opens under old rules as new regs stall in review
Bristol Bay's commercial salmon season opened June 1 under old rules while new regulations adopted in January remain stalled in legal review.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
ADF&G opens six Kodiak sections to commercial fishing, bans large Chinook retention
Alaska Department of Fish and Game opened six Kodiak commercial salmon sections to purse seine fishing June 9 but banned retention of Chinook salmon 28 inches or larger, citing low king salmon runs in the Karluk and Ayakulik river systems.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
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 read
Southeast outer coast lingcod fishery closes after hitting quota
Alaska closed the Southern Southeast Outer Coast commercial lingcod fishery Saturday after boats landed the full 50,100-pound quota, though sport fishing and other areas remain open.
by Alaska Newsadded 3mo ago1 min read
Russian seafood floods US markets as Alaska fishermen seek relief
Russian seafood still reaches US markets through third-country processing despite a five-year federal import ban, leaving Alaska pollock and cod fishermen facing continued price pressure below pre-ban levels.
by Alaska Newsadded 3mo ago2 min read
Hatchery groups cite NOAA Chinook decision as validation
NOAA found Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon do not warrant endangered-species protection, a decision hatchery operators cite as validation of their management but that critics say masks weaker local populations.
by Walter AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
ADF&G opens Copper River drift gillnet fishery Thursday for 24 hours
Alaska Department of Fish and Game opens Copper River drift gillnet fishery for 24 hours starting 7 a.m. Thursday, June 26, targeting sockeye salmon while monitoring Chinook conservation limits of 21,000 to 31,000 fish.
by Bill AlaskaNews3mo ago2 min read
Alaska fishery disaster funds stalled at OMB despite congressional approval
Congress approved $300 million in fishery disaster relief for Alaska in December 2024, but the Office of Management and Budget has not released the funds to fishing families waiting for relief.
by Alaska News3mo ago1 min read
Sullivan: Russia flooding markets to drive down Alaska fish prices
Senator Dan Sullivan says a U.S. ban on Russian seafood protects Alaska fishermen from market flooding. • Reports show Russian fish still enters the U.S. through China, bypassing the ban. • Experts say global market factors also drive down Alaska fish prices.
by Alaska Newsadded 3mo ago2 min read
A House bill on NOAA workplace safety is built on data from Alaska — where a third of fisheries observers report harassment or assault
A House bill to strengthen sexual harassment protections at NOAA is built on data from Alaska's North Pacific Observer Program, where nearly one third of the roughly 400 annual observers report harassment or assault.
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Begich bill to expand commerce in Alaska sea otter handicrafts gets first congressional hearing
A new bill in Congress that asks, what otter we do?
by Alaska News3mo ago2 min read
Challenger named Dan Sullivan files against Senator Dan Sullivan
A candidate named Dan Sullivan filed to challenge incumbent U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan in Alaska's 2026 race, creating a ballot naming problem the state elections division must solve.
by Walter AlaskaNewsadded 3mo ago1 min read
DNR lifts moratorium on Nushagak Bay shore fishery lease applications
Alaska lifted a three year moratorium on commercial salmon fishing leases along Nushagak Bay's east shore, reopening applications from June 1 to October 15 each year.
by Alaska News4mo ago1 min read
Kenai River king salmon fishery closed through mid-August 2026
Kenai River king salmon fishing closed May 1 through August 15, 2026 under emergency order. Third consecutive year of full closure due to conservation concerns. Other species fishing allowed with single-hook lures only. Nearby Kasilof River open to limited hatchery king salmon fishing.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago2 min read
Eagle River king salmon fishery closed for 2026 season
Alaska closed all king salmon sport fishing in Eagle River through July 13, 2026 due to weak fish populations and unmet escapement goals.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago1 min read
Alaska AG voids contested Area M salmon regulations after ethics challenge
Alaska attorney general voided five salmon regulations after board members failed to disclose conflicts of interest. • Fishing groups won relief through ethics enforcement instead of court. • Regulations would have restricted fishing time and added chinook catch closures. • Board must restart the process to readopt any rules.
by Walter AlaskaNews4mo ago3 min read
Craig, Klawock Anglers Face New Ban on Filleting Fish at Sea
Alaska Department of Fish and Game has banned marine anglers from filleting or de-heading lingcod, nonpelagic rockfish, and king or coho salmon at sea when returning to Craig and Klawock ports, requiring fish to remain whole for creel sampling.
by Bill AlaskaNews4mo ago3 min readNome subsistence salmon fishers face new weekly schedule, 25-fish limits
Alaska Department of Fish and Game has established a Wednesday-to-Monday subsistence fishing schedule and 25-fish household limits for Norton Sound salmon fisheries in 2026, prioritizing escapement and subsistence needs over commercial harvest.
by Alaska Newsadded 4mo ago3 min readFederal Decision Keeps Chinook Management in Alaska's Hands
NMFS ruled that Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon do not warrant ESA listing, preserving Alaska's state control over fisheries management after a court-ordered review deadline.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min readHalibut Landings Lag 80% Behind Quota as Prices Hit $7/lb
Alaska's halibut fishery has landed only 3.5 million pounds against a 19 million pound quota by early May 2026, an unusually slow pace despite strong $6 to $7 per pound dock prices across major ports.
by Alaska Newsadded 4mo ago2 min readSenate panel advances Ketchikan mariculture manager to Board of Fisheries
The Senate Resources Committee advanced Paul Cyr's nomination to the Alaska Board of Fisheries, which would give Southeast Alaska its first seat on the influential regulatory board in years.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
Senate panel advances compromise on fish processor sick leave
The Senate Community and Regional Affairs Committee advanced a compromise bill Thursday that limits paid sick leave for seasonal fish processors to 12 hours per month, capped at 48 hours annually, modifying voter-approved sick leave requirements.
by Alaska News4mo ago2 min read
Board of Fish Nominees Face Questions on Public Process Erosion
Three Board of Fisheries nominees pledged commitment to transparent public process during legislative questioning focused on recent out-of-cycle decisions that changed Cook Inlet gear types despite overwhelming public opposition.
by Alaska News4mo ago3 min read