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1 week ago | 
nationalfisherman.com | Laine Welch
State managers anticipate an "excellent" season for sockeyes. Alaska's 2025 salmon season will officially get underway on May 22 with a 12-hour opener for sockeye and Chinook salmon at the famous Copper River near Cordova. In its Friday announcement, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) pegged the harvest forecast for sockeye salmon at 1.92 million fish this season, more than double the ten-year average of 824,000 fish.
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2 weeks ago | 
savingseafood.org | Laine Welch
April 10, 2025 — Bad weather and some last-minute paperwork scrambling at NOAA Fisheries combined to produce low catches during the first weeks of the Pacific halibut fishery. By April 1, just 3 percent of the 23.79 million pound fishery limit for 2025 had been harvested since the March 20 opener.
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2 weeks ago | 
nationalfisherman.com | Laine Welch
By April 1, just 3 percent of the 23.79 million pound fishery limit for 2025 had been harvested since the March 20 opener. That poundage applies to the catches for commercial fishermen, sport charter operators, anglers, and subsistence users along the west coast and British Columbia/Canada to the far reaches of Alaska’s Bering Sea.
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3 weeks ago | 
nationalfisherman.com | Laine Welch
The arrival of herring at Sitka Sound signals the start of spring in Alaska, but the fishery that began there on March 22 has attracted little notice or interest. Roughly 2,740 tons of herring 6 million pounds)were harvested through March 25on an allowable harvest of 36,720 short tons (73.44 million pounds). There’s plenty of herring, which are valued for their roe, or eggs.
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4 weeks ago | 
savingseafood.org | Laine Welch
March 26, 2025 — Alaska’s 2024 salmon fishery saw double-digit declines in both catch and value, and the hits also hurt the state’s vital hatchery program. Alaska produced a total catch of just over 101 million salmon last year, a 56 percent decrease from the more than 232 million fish caught in 2023. Fishermen’s paydays also took a beating with the total salmon value at $304 million, down from $398 million the previous year.
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1 month ago | 
nationalfisherman.com | Laine Welch
Alaska’s 2024 salmon fishery saw double-digit declines in both catch and value, and the hits also hurt the state's vital hatchery program. Alaska produced a total catch of just over 101 million salmon last year, a 56 percent decrease from the more than 232 million fish caught in 2023. Fishermen’s paydays also took a beating with the total salmon value at $304 million, down from $398 million the previous year.
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1 month ago | 
adn.com | Laine Welch
Gov. Mike Dunleavy made waves recently when he proposed that Alaska get into the fish farming business. Here’s a better idea: Use more of every fish that crosses Alaska’s docks. All other U.S. protein producers strive to use all parts of their animals, “from the rooter to the tooter.” But in Alaska, processors utilize less than half of all the seafood that runs through their plants. The bulk of the fish/crab byproducts are ground up and buried or discharged at sea.
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1 month ago | 
savingseafood.org | Laine Welch
March 21, 2025 — Combined coastwide catch for all users is down by nearly 16 percent, more than 18 percent for commercial fishermen. The 2025 Pacific halibut fishery kicks off today, March 20, in regions spanning from the West Coast and British Columbia to the far reaches of Alaska’s Bering Sea. And once again, all users – commercial fishermen, sport charters, anglers, and subsistence – will get smaller takes of the prized fish as the Pacific stock continues to flounder.
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1 month ago | 
kodiakdailymirror.com | Laine Welch
The 2025 Pacific halibut fishery started Thursday from California, up the British Columbia and Southeast coastline, across the Gulf of Alaska to the far reaches of the Bering Sea. Once again, all users — commercial fishermen, sport charters, anglers and subsistence – will get smaller takes of the prized fish as the Pacific stock continues to flounder. The total 2025 quota of Pacifc halibut is 29.72 million pounds, a drop of 15.7% from 2024.
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1 month ago | 
nationalfisherman.com | Laine Welch
Combined coastwide catch for all users is down by nearly 16 percent, more than 18 percent for commercial fishermen. The 2025 Pacific halibut fishery kicks off today, March 20, in regions spanning from the West Coast and British Columbia to the far reaches of Alaska's Bering Sea. And once again, all users - commercial fishermen, sport charters, anglers, and subsistence - will get smaller takes of the prized fish as the Pacific stock continues to flounder.
