The Kawerak Tribe of Alaska said that the North Pacific Fishery Management Council’s (NPFMC) recent action to limit chum salmon bycatch is not enough to repopulate the fishery, calling it a “step backwards.”
The NPFMC met to take final action on management strategies for limiting chum salmon bycatch in the Eastern Bering Sea pollock trawl fishery on 11 February 2026, and voted to reject a hard cap on Western Alaska chum salmon bycatch but approved a corridor closure to allow fish passage. Native organizations like the Kawerak Tribe argue this action is still not enough, and continues to push for bycatch restrictions.
Alaska’s salmon sector has long fought for chum salmon bycatch restrictions, but the NPFMC maintains its stance that that type of salmon is not native to the area, and that Alaskan pollock trawlers are only responsible for less than 2 percent of Western Alaska chum salmon mortality.
The pollock fishing industry has also argued that most of its bycatch doesn't originate in Alaskan waters, and has noted that it has reduced its chum salmon bycatch significantly in recent years.
The Kawerak Region Tribe said in a release that chum salmon bycatch has averaged approximately 250,000 fish per year since 2011, with 164,000 coming from the conservation corridor annually. The 164,000 fish include western Alaska chum salmon, Gulf of Alaska chum salmon, and Asian hatchery chum salmon. With no hard cap for chum salmon bycatch set by the NPFMC, the Kawerak Tribe argues that declining chum salmon populations are affecting food security, health, culture, and traditional ways of life.
“While our families face closures, restrictions, and hunger, the pollock fleet continues to waste thousands – and over decades, millions – of chum salmon through bycatch,” Kawerak Executive Vice President Darlene Paqpaluk Trigg said in a release. “The burden of conservation has been placed overwhelmingly on Tribal communities, while industrial fisheries continue to intercept salmon far from our rivers. That imbalance is unjust, and it is a failure of the federal government’s trust responsibility and government-to-government obligations to Tribes. When chum salmon disappear from the rivers, it is not just a failed run. It is a break in our food system, our culture, and our responsibility to future generations.”
The Kawerak Tribe claimed that of the 200 Alaskans to testify at the NPFMC council meeting in February, the consensus was a call for a salmon chum bycatch cap of 100,000 across the entire pollock fishery, which averages 250,000 fish. Additionally, tribal organizations wanted a chum salmon bycatch cap in the conservation corridor of 50,000 fish instead of the 164,000 accounted for last year. The final call to action was a regulation on the number of changes to industry measures that reduce bycatch, which the Tribal organization said would amount to a reduction of nearly 60 percent of western Alaska salmon chum bycatch, and allow thousands of chum salmon to repopulate.
The Tribal organization argued that while the corridor closure was a good step, the NPFMC still fell short of expectations for salmon conservation.
“Instead of recommending a strong combination of alternatives with clear benefits to western Alaska chum salmon, the NPFMC adopted a motion that at its core represents the illusion of action,” the Kawerak release said.
In March, the Alaska Board of Fisheries voted to cut chum salmon fishing by 30 percent in southwest Alaska, according to a report by CBC News. The outlet added that the decision reduces the time that boats can fish in a commercial fishing area on the state’s southwest coast, and more specifically at times when chum salmon stocks are present. This will allow the vulnerable population time to reproduce in the Yukon River, and in turn increase stocks. CBC News said in a release that the affected area, demarcated as “Area M” includes the Alaskan Peninsula and part of the Aleutian Island chain. This area also includes several fish processing plants.
