Sitka herring update No. 1

Spring is coming and the whales and sea lions are gathering. Click here.

Council nomination news

Gov. Mike Dunleavy has nominated Märit Carlson-Van Dort for a seat on the North Pacific Fishery Management Council.

Here's the governor's nomination letter.

New battles coming on hatcheries, trawling

The Alaska Board of Fisheries concludes its 2025-26 meeting cycle with a five-day session starting tomorrow in Anchorage on statewide finfish and supplemental issues.

Among the more notable issues, a trio of proposals (170, 171 and 172) would constrain pink and chum production from salmon hatcheries. Two of the proposals are from the Kenai River Sportfishing Association.

Another trio of proposals (163, 164 and 165) would appear to make life tougher for trawlers. The proposals are from an organization called the Alaska Healthy Habitat Alliance.

Proposal 163 would define all trawls operating in state waters as bottom contact gear. Proposal 164 would "establish bottom contact monitoring requirements for pelagic trawl gear."

The Alaska Whitefish Trawlers Association hates these trawl proposals, commenting in a letter to the board:

There seems to be an assumption that trawlers operating in the Gulf of Alaska and Prince William Sound regularly put their pelagic nets on the bottom. This is not accurate. The seafloor in the GOA and PWS are rocky, and our pelagic nets are relatively delicate. Contact with the bottom (or sunken shipwrecks) shreds our nets, requiring time-consuming and expensive repairs or replacement, and lost fishing time. On average a pelagic trawl net alone for our members costs $110,000, and we are not going to intentionally damage an expensive piece of gear.

The wait is nearly over

We'll soon have the government's answer on whether Gulf of Alaska Chinook salmon should be listed under the Endangered Species Act.

The National Marine Fisheries Service is pledging to render its decision on or before May 13.

A nonprofit organization, the Wild Fish Conservancy, petitioned NMFS for the listing and later sued the agency for failing to meet the deadline for making its decision. The lawsuit has now been settled with the setting of the May 13 date.

Chinook runs across Alaska are weak, forcing fishery conservation measures.

But the Alaska Department of Fish and Game doesn't support listing the fish, writing in September 2024: "The best available scientific and commercial information makes it clear that GOA Chinook salmon do not meet the definition of a threatened or endangered species."

Three charged with intentionally sinking boats

Here's a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Juneau watch

Senate Bill 161, which "puts an end to bottom trawling in state waters beginning in 2028," according to its sponsor, is up for consideration tomorrow in the Senate Resources Committee.

Report: 'Deadliest' crewman falls overboard, dies

Here's the story from the Associated Press.