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The fish behind America’s fish sticks is fueling a fight over trawling in Alaska
Critics say the fleet caught an average of 18,000 Chinook and 288,000 other salmon a year over the last decade, intensifying calls for tighter limits.
- In February, the North Pacific Fishery Management Council recommended a 45,000 cap on western Alaska chum bycatch after hearing testimony from more than 170 people about impacts on the Bering Sea fleet.
- Collapsing salmon runs across western Alaska have devastated Alaska Native communities that have relied on the fish for generations, fueling backlash against the pollock industry and commercial fishing practices.
- Alaska pollock, the second-largest fishery on Earth, generates about $432 million annually; bycatch makes up 2% of the total catch, with trawl fisheries discarding some 96 million pounds in 2025 alone.
- Brooke Woods, commissioner for the Yukon River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission, voiced concerns about losing cultural knowledge, arguing the council's recommended cap is insufficient to protect depleted salmon populations.
- Scientists point to warming waters as a primary cause of salmon declines, yet critics maintain bycatch is a manageable mortality source managers can control, positioning the issue as central to Alaska's political debate.
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Associated Press News+13 Reposted by 13 other sources
The fish behind America’s fish sticks is fueling a fight over trawling in Alaska
The nets for Alaska’s massive pollock fishery also catch salmon and other marine life. As salmon runs collapse across western Alaska, Indigenous communities and smaller commercial fishers say they're bearing the costs.
·New York, United States
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Total News Sources15
Leaning Left10Leaning Right1Center4Last UpdatedBias Distribution66% Left
Bias Distribution
- 66% of the sources lean Left
66% Left
L 66%
C 27%
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