THE BERING SEA — The fish inside fish sticks and McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwiches is at the center of a growing fight in Alaska, the Associated Press reported.
Alaska pollock is the second-largest fishery on Earth, according to the AP. But the giant trawl nets also catch other marine life, including salmon.
Bycatch makes up 2% of the pollock fishery’s total catch. At a scale of billions of pounds a year, that adds up. Over the last 10 years, Bering Sea pollock trawlers caught an average of about 18,000 Chinook and 288,000 other salmon a year, the AP reported.
That has become explosive as salmon runs have collapsed across western Alaska, where dozens of Native communities depend on them. In 2024, Alaska and Canada banned Chinook fishing on the Yukon River for seven years.
“This is what it takes to put seafood on the table,” said Maverick Blake, captain of the F/V Progress.
Some researchers point to warming waters as the main cause of the declines. But critics say bycatch is one of the few causes managers can control. “Each fish is critical to communities along the Yukon River,” said Andrew Seitz, a University of Alaska Fairbanks fisheries professor.
Trawling has become an issue in Alaska’s midterm races.
Sources: KTAR News/AP. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: U.S. Coast Guard photo by [null Courtesy] / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
