Friday, September 18, 2026
Alaska
Sullivan's Bycatch Bill Passes Out of Committee and Trawl Groups Take Issue With Section 2
SeafoodNews by Peggy Parker - September 18, 2026
Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan’s S.4938, the Bycatch Reduction Act, had just passed out of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation after markup when a statement of concern was released by a coalition of three trawl associations — At-Sea Processors Association (APA), Midwater Trawlers Cooperative (MTC) and United Catcher Boats (UCB).
“We are not asking anyone to accept the status quo: we are always looking to raise the bar even further,” the group said in its September 16 statement. “What is critical, however, is that science and evidence — not politics and misinformation — be the basis for fishery management reforms. “Section 2 of S.4938 would mandate sweeping changes to where and how we fish. Unfortunately, these provisions ignore the exhaustive habitat conservation measures that are already in place — and the complex trade- offs involved,” they added.
Section 2, titled “Ensuring mid-water nets do not operate like bottom trawl gear” requires the North Pacific Fishery Management Council to “establish a pelagic trawl gear performance standard” for all pelagic trawlers the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands Groundfish Fishery Management Plan and Gulf of Alaska Groundfish Fishery Management Plan and to “implement enforceable regulations” to manage gear impacts from the trawlers on benthic habitat and “reduce unobserved mortality on important subsistence, commercial, or recreational species during fishing operations.”
How the Council will do that takes up the rest of Section 2.
The regulations would include requiring seafloor contact detection systems to be installed on each vessel, capable of verifying the net position and clearance relative to the seafloor; prohibiting pelagic trawl gear from fishing in areas closed to non-pelagic trawl gear; prohibiting fishing in areas that support juvenile recruitment of species; and other measures. “Moving pollock fishing higher in the water column may reduce bottom contact, but it will increase encounters with salmon,” the coalition of trawl groups explained. “Requiring vessels to fish longer to catch the same amount of pollock will mean more time on the water, greater fuel use and higher bycatch rates.
“These are exactly the kinds of consequences that must be understood and analyzed before regulations are imposed,” they said.
The Eastern Bering Sea Alaska pollock fishery is the largest fishery in the United States, producing approximately 3.5 billion affordable and nutritious seafood meals every year. It also supports an estimated 16,821 American jobs, $1.15 billion in labor income and $2.54 billion in total U.S. economic activity.
BBRSDA Awarded S-K Grant for New Wild Alaska Sockeye Salmon in Foodservice Campaign
SeafoodNews by Peggy Parker - September 17, 2026
With an eye to increasing demand for wild Alaska sockeye salmon in the domestic foodservice industry, the Bristol Bay Regional Seafood Development Association (BBRSDA) sought and received its first-ever Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) grant, worth $499,400 over two years.
"This grant comes at an especially important time for Bristol Bay's fishermen, as the seafood industry continues to navigate a challenging and highly competitive market," said Lilani Dunn, executive director of BBRSDA.
"Foodservice represents significant untapped potential for Bristol Bay sockeye salmon, and this funding will help us introduce our fish to more chefs and diners while building stronger, more diversified demand. We are deeply grateful to NOAA Fisheries and the Saltonstall-Kennedy Grant Program for investing in this work and in Bristol Bay's future."
The new project, called "Wild Alaska Sockeye Salmon in Food Service," will run from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2028.
BBRSDA says the project will build demand for wild Alaska sockeye salmon in the foodservice sector at restaurants, healthcare facilities, schools, and corporate dining. The association will use marketing, industry partnerships, and long-term menu placements in their effort to move the needle.
BBRSDA represents about 1,800 drift permit holders and more than 8,000 small boat fishermen in Bristol Bay, Alaska. Founded in 2005, the group represents the drift gillnet fleet of the world's largest salmon fishery.
The Saltonstall-Kennedy (S-K) program is administered by NOAA Fisheries and funds projects that support the US seafood industry, including marketing, research, and new technology. Established under the Saltonstall-Kennedy Act of 1954, the program helps fishing communities across the country build stronger, more resilient markets for domestic seafood.
West Coast
US House committee advances bill expanding culling of salmon-eating seals and sea lions
SeafoodSource by Nathan Strout - September 16, 2026
The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee has approved a bill that would allow the state of Washington and area Tribes to kill more seals and sea lions that prey upon recovering salmon populations.
US Seafood Industry Calls for Reform of EU CATCH System
SeafoodNews by Ryan Doyle - September 17, 2026
After months of collaborative meetings with EU and US authorities trying to sort out the requirements of the EU's new CATCH system with the way the US — and Alaska in particular — accounts for its harvest, a coalition of US seafood groups is now urging practical changes to accomplish the new system's goals: eliminating illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing in EU trade.
The Pacific Seafood Processors Association (PSPA), Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI), and At-sea Processors Association (APA) released a new whitepaper, Advancing EU Efforts to Combat IUU Fishing: Why CATCH Needs Reforms, on September 1, outlining concerns with the system and recommending practical changes.
Today, the National Seafood Association (formerly National Fisheries Institute) joined the coalition calling for reforms to CATCH.
The groups say the EU's CATCH digital seafood traceability system's current requirements create unnecessary barriers for legally harvested seafood while failing to adequately account for the realities of complex seafood supply chains.
"We share the European Union's goal of preventing IUU fishing and ensuring that seafood entering the European market is legally harvested," said Julie Decker, president of the Pacific Seafood Processors Association. "But CATCH needs to reflect how seafood is actually harvested, processed and marketed. We want CATCH to succeed, but the current system is imposing enormous costs on legitimate businesses without meaningfully improving the ability to identify IUU product."
The coalition found the CATCH system fails to "effectively and efficiently address IUU fishing risk" due to two incorrect assumptions and one case of incomplete information. The EU CATCH system incorrectly assumes a constant, predictable relationship between catches and finished products, and incorrectly assumes that catches can be easily traced from initial harvest to finished products in high-volume, complex fisheries. By exempting some catches and finished products, the system also collects incomplete information.
"These shortcomings leave a system that suggests IUU fishing where none is present, and at the same time creates opportunities for IUU catches to enter markets undetected," the report states.
Over the last eight months, the Alaska seafood industry has worked to implement EU CATCH with waivers for several data fields, and more recently with permission to use the previous catch documentation. Even with this grace period, the Alaska seafood industry has encountered three principal problems with EU CATCH:
- Harvest vessel reporting tracked through the production process does not work for highly processed, co-mingled products
- Product weight data (i.e., mass balances) are not a reliable indicator of IUU products
- Unworkable data requirements have been imposed on the seafood industry at significant cost
These recommendations follow additional suggestions made by the Market Advisory Council (MAC) of the European Commission (EC) on August 6. The MAC identified seven areas needing immediate attention.
For US exporters, the EU regulations have already caused significant disruptions. In one case, approximately 16,000 metric tons of Alaska seafood were delayed by documentation issues involving two shipments through the Netherlands, creating hundreds of thousands of dollars in direct costs for an Alaska logistics company, along with additional costs for participating US seafood companies. A separate case in Denmark resulted in approximately 600 metric tons of US seafood being held amid conflicting guidance concerning CATCH documentation.
"These are not theoretical concerns," said Jeremy Woodrow, executive director of the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute. "When thousands of tons of legally harvested seafood are sitting in storage and businesses face significant additional costs, it is clear that implementation needs to be improved. The EU must establish a better system that protects the integrity of the seafood supply chain without unnecessarily restricting lawful seafood trade."
"The Alaska seafood industry has invested heavily in monitoring, enforcement and responsible fisheries management," said Matt Tinning, CEO of the At-sea Processors Association.
"CATCH should recognize those systems rather than create unnecessary duplication. The objective should be better detection of illegal seafood, not simply more paperwork for legal seafood."
Lisa Wallenda Picard of the National Seafood Association agreed, adding that "IUU product has no place in the seafood supply chain."
"American companies are proud of our dedication to this principle," Wallenda Picard said in a statement from NSA. "The current EU CATCH system punishes years of efforts to curtail seafood harvested outside of this commitment. The concerns are shared by European seafood businesses that depend on reliable international supply chains."
"European seafood businesses fully support the fight against IUU fishing, but CATCH must be workable in practice," said Katarina Sipic, secretary general of Seafood Europe. "When legitimate seafood is delayed or held because documentation requirements do not reflect how modern fisheries operate, the consequences are felt by European businesses and consumers as well as international suppliers."
The coalition calls for continued collaboration between US and EU authorities, industry, and other trading partners to develop a system that improves traceability while maintaining efficient access to legally harvested seafood.
"This is ultimately about getting the system right," Decker said. "We want to work with the European Commission, Member States and US agencies to build a CATCH system that actually helps identify IUU seafood while allowing legitimate seafood to move efficiently through international markets."
Environment/Science
Expect the unexpected: An evaluation of climate impacts on Alaskan fisheries
National Fisherman by Rhett Krovitz - September 16, 2026
Like a rampant rumor, word of low catch traveled through the Sitka Sound fleet. It was, to most local fishermen, the worst king salmon opener they had ever experienced. And it should be, to all, absolutely terrifying.
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