Council meeting still on, but it'll be weird

The North Pacific Fishery Management Council will go ahead with its December meeting, but it appears the government shutdown could hamper things significantly.

Here's an update the council just posted.

The council's December meeting is always one of its biggest of the year, as that's when groundfish quotas for the Bering Sea and Gulf of Alaska are set.

Washington watch

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, colleagues and seafood industry players are hailing Senate passage of a bill designed to combat purported illegal and unregulated foreign fishing that competes with U.S. seafood in the marketplace.

Kodiak's big pink year

This year's Kodiak pink salmon harvest was the second-largest on record at 34.6 million fish, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reports in this salmon season summary.

Washington watch

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, in a press release this week, outlined numerous provisions in a defense bill including this:

Prohibit military dining facilities and commissaries from purchasing or selling seafood that originates or is processed in the People's Republic of China to help Alaska fishermen.

Impressive numbers for Cook Inlet

The season summary for this year's Upper Cook Inlet commercial salmon fishery shows some unexpectedly strong results.

• The sockeye run of 12.1 million fish was 74 percent greater than forecast.

• The commercial harvest of 3.7 million sockeye was 60 percent above the 20-year average of 2.3 million.

• At an estimated average price of $1.73 per pound, the total ex-vessel value for the sockeye harvest was $35.8 million.

One more note: The king salmon harvest of 128 fish was the lowest on record.

Disappointment for Kodiak crabbers

The Kodiak District will remain closed for the 2026 commercial Tanner crab season.

Last season, managers set a 560,000-pound catch quota for the district.

Congrats

National Fisherman has named its 2025 Highliners including:

• Homer commercial fisherman Erik Velsko

• Bob Alverson, longtime manager of the Seattle-based Fishing Vessel Owners' Association, which represents halibut and sablefish harvesters.

From Coast Guard headquarters

The U.S. Coast Guard today confirmed its military service members will receive their mid-month paychecks for Oct. 15.

More in this press release.

High court backs state in Yukon, Kusko salmon case

Here's the 18-page opinion from the Alaska Supreme Court.

Hefty quota increases for Bering Sea crab

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game today announced Bering Sea crab harvest quotes for the 2025-26 season.

The Bristol Bay red king crab quota is 2.68 million pounds, a 16 percent increase from last season.

The Bering Sea snow crab quota is 9.3 million pounds, up 97 percent.

The Bering Sea bairdi Tanner crab quota is 11.25 million pounds, a 79 percent increase.

The season opens at noon Oct. 15, with the fleet expected to first go after Bristol Bay red king crab.

Deckboss is advised the federal government shutdown is not expected to delay issuance of individual fishing quotas for crabbers.