Background Articles

The Alaska Department of Fish and Game's preliminary report for 2024 shows a record low in Norton Sound's commercial fishery, with an exvessel value of $146,326 from a salmon harvest of 21,490. Statewide salmon harvests declined by 56% from the previous year.

Alaska's seafood industry is facing significant challenges due to climate change, geopolitical factors, and economic pressures. Efforts to address these issues are underway, but solutions are complex and require substantial investment and policy change.

“Fishing has been very good for the [Bristol Bay red king crab] fleet this season and the crab delivered so far has been of high quality — new shell, large size, good meat-fill,” said Alaska Department of Fish and Game Area Management Biologist Ethan Nichols.

The seafood industry around the world has faced market turmoil. Few Alaska communities have been hit harder than King Cove.

Alaska's largest sockeye salmon run exceeded expectations in numbers but featured the smallest fish on record, posing challenges for commercial harvest.

A family with a 70-year history of setting nets in Cook Inlet has observed significant changes in salmon size and population, with a notable decrease in average earnings for fishermen.

These worms, present in halibut, cod, salmon and other saltwater fish, are increasing. If the worms are well frozen or cooked, they don’t pose a health threat.

Applications for relief funds from Alaska's 2019 and 2020 crab fisheries disasters are now open, with $13 million allocated for the Bering Sea Tanner crab fishery.

Juneau's king salmon fishery will be closed this summer due to low hatchery returns caused by a 2020 landslide that disrupted the freshwater supply and forced premature salmon release.

An increase in chum salmon in the Canadian Arctic, potentially linked to climate change, may be the same fish missing from Western Alaska, raising ecological concerns.

Industry representatives assert that trawling near Kuskokwim Bay complies with regulations and does not impact salmon, despite local concerns about habitat damage and fish migration.

A petition to list king salmon as endangered in Alaska faces opposition due to concerns about its impact on local fisheries and management practices.

The EPA is pushing Alaska to update water pollution rules due to Alaskans' high seafood consumption, with state officials acknowledging the need for revised standards.

Rivers and streams in Alaska are changing color – from a clean, clear blue to a rusty orange – because of the toxic metals released by thawing permafrost, according to a new study.

Experts decided that during the fishing season, red fish in the water area of the Anadyr estuary can be caught only two days a week. It was decided to introduce a large number of passing days to preserve the chum salmon population spawning in this basin.

Recent discoloration of 75 streams in Arctic Alaska reflects increased iron and trace metal loading following climate-driven permafrost thaw. These findings have considerable implications for drinking water supplies and subsistence fisheries.

Japan plans to expand its commercial whaling to include fin whales, five years after resuming whaling and leaving the IWC.

The plant, formerly owned by Peter Pan Seafood Company, is the economic engine for the Alaska Peninsula community. 

Recent surveys reveal that chum salmon face challenges during winter in the Gulf of Alaska, with conditions like marine heatwaves affecting their diet and survival, leading to increased mortality rates.

The years-long debate is taking on increasing urgency as subsistence harvesting bans continue and the policy responses under consideration threaten to impose steep costs on the industry.