ASMI Consumer Research Finds Awareness Gap Fuels New Pan-European Alaska Surimi Campaign

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (ASMI) has launched a new consumer research initiative aimed at reshaping how European shoppers understand surimi, laying the groundwork for a Pan-European Genuine Alaska Pollock Surimi campaign designed to strengthen the product's position across the continent.

Europe is already a significant outlet for Alaska surimi, importing approximately 40,000 metric tons valued at $87.5 million in 2024. ASMI's new push aims to build on that base by tackling outdated perceptions of the product and reinforcing its quality, versatility, affordability...

Hodges: Crab Inventory Is Committed. Demand Is Not.

The outlook entering fall is better than headline supply figures suggest, but the risks have changed. Much of the Canadian snow crab harvest has already been contracted or shipped, and major processors report little uncommitted inventory. This reduces the threat of widespread discounting, but it does not mean the crab has been sold through to the consumer.

Snow crab’s strongest demand period is normally during the summer, supported by crab boils, tourism, and foodservice activity. Foodservice movement has remained relatively good, particularly in the Southeast, but retail demand has been soft...

Ninth Circuit Rejects Oceana's Gulf of Alaska Seafloor Habitat Challenge, Finding No Legal Standing

The US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled against Oceana's challenge to federal management of seafloor habitats in the Gulf of Alaska, finding the conservation group lacked the legal standing necessary to pursue its claims.

In a ruling issued last Thursday in Anchorage, a three-judge panel found that Oceana, represented by Earthjustice, "failed to show that any injury to the organization's members is traceable to the challenged [NMFS management plan] amendments." As one example, the court rejected Oceana's contention that, if required to redo...

Pink Salmon Surge in Sitka and Kodiak Lifts Alaska Season Totals

A late-season surge of pink salmon into Sitka and strong returns in Kodiak have brightened Alaska's salmon harvest picture heading into the final stretch of the season.

The Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute's (ASMI) weekly harvest summary through August 22 showed the cumulative salmon catch had exceeded year-to-date 2025 levels — and 2024 levels for pink salmon — though totals remained well behind both the forecast and the prior-year cumulative harvest as the season began to wind down. That picture improved further after the report was distributed...

Pink Salmon Surge Gives Alaska's Statewide Salmon Harvest a Boost — But Season Remains Below Pace

Through August 17, Alaska's statewide salmon harvest continues its lackluster performance, with total catch at 72.14 million fish — led by sockeye at 36.63 million and pink salmon at 26.13 million.

The numbers got a boost roughly ten days ago when pink salmon surged during Statistical Week 33 (August 9–15), with nearly 13 million fish landed that week. Almost half came from Kodiak, where the cumulative harvest is now up 63% from the 2024 benchmark...

Salmon Harvest Levels Inch Up in Early August But Missed Forecasts Are the Concern

Bristol Bay sockeye landings have reached 29.75 million salmon, still shy of the pre-season forecast of 32.2 million.

Statewide chum salmon (keta) landings are down 61% from 2025, at 7.35 million fish.

Statewide pink salmon harvests stand at 10.65 million — comprised of 4.5 million from Southeast Alaska, where the pre-season forecast called for 19 million; just 500,000 from Southcentral (Prince William Sound's modest prediction remains significantly above current landings); and over 5.5 million from the Western Region, mostly from...

Cruise Ship Comes to Aid of Stranded Mariners in SE Alaska, Passing Zuckerberg Yacht Closer By

Mariners in a 21-foot skiff out of Petersburg, Alaska ran out of fuel last week and were assisted by the crew of the 192-foot Wilderness Legacy, owned by UnCruise Adventures. The Wilderness Legacy heeded a call for assistance that was issued by the US Coast Guard and rebroadcast by John Hollingsworth, chief operations officer of the Juneau-based Marine Exchange. “We did assist the Coast Guard with callouts on our radio and (were) able to hail the Wilderness...

RFK, Jr. Hosts The Real Food Show with Chef Andrew Gruel, Starring Wild Alaska Sockeye

In the premiere episode of The Real Food Show, hosted by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with guest Chef Andrew Gruel, wild Alaska sockeye salmon took center stage.

Kennedy launched the cooking show to demonstrate that preparing meals with real, whole-food ingredients can be healthy, delicious, and affordable. Chef Gruel — founder of the Slapfish franchise and the founder, CEO and executive chef of Calico Fish House, a casual seafood restaurant in Huntington Beach, CA — addressed an issue at the heart of many political...

Update of Statewide Salmon Landings Emphasize Concern for Pinks and Chums

Alaska salmon harvests are continuing to show a concerning pattern of very few pink salmon returning in any areas of the state and a severely depleted keta (chum) run to date.

As the McKinley Research weekly update of July 25, 2026 puts it “Keta harvests were down 66%, and pink salmon runs are either low or late to arrive.”

Landings are recorded daily but published at different times in each port. In some areas, like Southeast Alaska and Prince William Sound, pink and chum...

The Winding Glass: What Alaska Has Lost

In 2016, Alaska fishermen received an average of 40 cents per pound for their catch (in 2025 dollars). In 2024, they got 27 cents, a 32% decline in real terms. Alaska's other resource industry, oil, saw its price rise 30% in real terms over the same period.

These are not just the actions of commodity markets. Seafood lost a third of its real value, a fifth of its processing plants, and most of its mid-sized owners. The losses did not fall evenly along the supply chain. Total wholesale sales fell by only...

Robot-Assisted Ike Jime Comes to Cook Inlet as Shinkei Systems Eyes Premium Salmon Market

Shinkei Systems, the seafood robotics company that created Seremoni Grade™ premium fish, has developed new harvesting technology now in place on selected fishing vessels in Cook Inlet, Alaska. The wild sockeye salmon caught there will reach markets as Seremoni Grade, Shinkei’s distinctively higher-quality fish, this summer.

Seremoni Grade’s higher quality comes from killing the fish quickly and humanely, as traditional Japanese fishermen have done for generations. Shinkei has automated the Japanese slaughter technique...

ADF&G Accuses Marine Stewardship Council of “Blue Washing” Russian Pollock Management

The London-based Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) has come under fire for its near-certification of the Western Bering Sea pollock fishery, following a formal objection filed by the At-Sea Processors Association in June and a sharply worded letter from Alaska Department of Fish and Game Commissioner Doug Vincent-Lang earlier this month.

"…the MSC's apparent determination to turn a blind eye to bycatch management, overfishing, habitat impacts, and data transparency and deploy your program's eco-label to 'blue wash' Russian seafood in global markets...

NOAA Links Chinook Salmon Declines in Yukon River to Bering Sea Heatwaves

In a new study, NOAA scientists at the Alaska Fisheries Science Center have linked the rapid decline of Chinook salmon in the Yukon River to marine heatwaves during 2016–2019, a period when adult run sizes reached their lowest levels on record.

The researchers used a new modeling approach to reconstruct the full Chinook life cycle by combining data from multiple sources: juvenile marine survey data and bycatch information collected by the Alaska Fisheries Science Center, and adult monitoring data collected by the Alaska Department...

DNR's Proposed Water Rules Sharply Criticized, Constitutional Protection of Salmon at Risk

Alaska's Department of Natural Resources (DNR) wants to change regulations that guide the state's water reservation process, an arcane but critically important procedure that guarantees enough water in salmon streams and rivers to support wild salmon populations.

Last August, DNR's Division of Mining, Land, and Water announced its intent in an online public notice and a legal ad in the Anchorage Daily News. The agency identified four regulations for potential changes and opened a scoping period that ran from August 1 to November 29, 2024...

Oral Arguments Heard on EPA's Veto of Pebble Mine, Decision Expected in 'Near Future'

The copper, gold and molybdenum mine known as Pebble and led by Canadian-owned Northern Dynasty Minerals Ltd., was in court last week arguing over whether a 2023 decision by the Environmental Protection Agency “vetoing” the project was right or wrong. The argument was before US District Court Judge Sharon Gleason in her Anchorage courtroom. 

Pebble Mine would be located in the watershed above Bristol Bay, the world’s largest run of sockeye salmon and home to five large river systems. The lawsuit was brought...

Death of Pregnant Fin Whale Caused by Cruise Ship Strike Before Docking in Seward

Federal and local scientists who conducted a necropsy on Saturday of an endangered and pregnant fin whale that arrived in port still draped over the bulbous bow of the Royal Caribbean Ovation of The Seas, said their preliminary findings are that the whale died of injuries consistent with a ship strike.

NOAA Fisheries collaborated with the Alaska SeaLife Center and Alaska Veterinary Pathology Services to perform a necropsy on the whale over the weekend to determine the cause of death...

Research Vessel Eventide Arrives at St. Paul Island, Anchoring the Pivot to a Research Economy

The small community of Saint Paul Island gathered at the harbor on August 15 to welcome the 50-foot research vessel Eventide — the latest and most visible sign of the island's ongoing transition toward a research-based economy.

This October marks four years since the sudden closure of the Bering Sea snow crab fishery, which had been the primary economic driver for the island's roughly 400 residents. Two years after the closure, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game reopened a limited fishery...

Industry Veteran Cathy DuPuis Joins Coastal Villages Region Fund to Lead Pollock Sales 

Cathy DuPuis, a 30-year veteran of Alaska whitefish sales, marketing management, and international business development has been hired as the director of pollock sales at  Coastal Villages Region Fund (CVRF) based in Anchorage.  

CVRF announced the move last Friday.  

“Cathy brings tremendous experience and knowledge of the seafood industry, but what really stood out to me was why she wanted to come to Coastal Villages Region Fund,” said Nick Souza, CEO of Coastal Villages Region Fund...

Savoonga, AK Celebrates Official Opening of New Pacific Halibut Plant in Northern Bering Sea

A milestone was celebrated earlier this month in the remote town of Savooonga on St. Laurence Island in the Northern Bering Sea, as the community's new halibut processing plant was officially opened and christened the Orville Evekaan Toolie Halibut Plant.  

Mr. Toolie, an employee of the Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation (NSEDC), who has served the fishers in Savooonga since 1992, was the honorary guest at the community celebration.

“Orville worked to help transform an old Head Start school building into the initial plant in the...

UW-FRI Early Advisory Projects 44.2 Million Sockeye for 2027 Bristol Bay Run

The University of Washington Fisheries Research Institute's early advisory for the 2027 Bristol Bay sockeye run projects 44.2 million fish — a 2.7 million increase over the 2026 forecast. The actual 2026 run came in slightly above that projection.

The projected 2027 inshore harvest is 28.6 million sockeye salmon, or 158 million pounds, calculated using the average size of each age class expected at this run level.

"As this preliminary forecast is made prior to the release of finalized data for the 2026 run, this should be considered...

Les Hodges: The Market Has the Crab. Now It Needs the Buyers.

The global crab market has moved from concern over supply availability to the more difficult question of demand. Strong Canadian snow crab shipments have substantially improved U.S. availability, while recovering Alaska resources and increased availability of Santolla from Argentina and Chile have changed the supply outlook. Norway remains constrained by its sharply reduced red king crab quota, while sanctions continue to exclude Russian crab from the U.S. market. The question for the second half of 2026 is increasingly not whether crab is available, but whether demand is strong...

The EU’s Own Market Advisory Council Offers Improvements to New CATCH Program

On August 4, the Market Advisory Council (MAC) of the European Commission (EC) announced recommendations calling for “… operational stabilization and strategic alignment of CATCH with the aim of ensuring proportionality, legal certainty, and market stability.”

As a stakeholder-led organization composed of representatives of the entire value chain (primary producers, auctions, processors, traders, suppliers, retailers, trade unions) and other interest groups (environmental and development NGOs, consumer groups), MAC’s comments added weight to comments made by exporting nations to the EC over its new IT program, known as CATCH...

Vincent Short, 36, Dies From Fall Off Mast on Trawler Offloading in Akutan, AK

Last Thursday evening, as the 123-foot trawler F/V Columbia was offloading at the Trident Seafoods plant in Akutan, crewman Vincent Short fell from his position on the mast, sustaining significant injuries, which shortly thereafter proved fatal. Initial reports were released by the Alaska State Troopers and the US Coast Guard.  

Alaska State Troopers said the Coast Guard has assumed case responsibility amid an ongoing investigation of the accident...

Alaska Airlines Doubles Freighter Fleet With Four New Aircraft Dedicated to Alaska and Hawaii

Alaska Airlines announced Friday it has entered into long-term lease agreements for four 737-800 Boeing Converted Freighter aircraft, expanding its dedicated cargo fleet from five to nine planes and effectively doubling its freighter capacity. The new aircraft will enter service in the first half of 2027 and will be dedicated exclusively to Alaska and Hawaii.

The expansion is part of Alaska Accelerate, the airline's broader strategic plan under which cargo is expected to deliver $150 million in new annual profit as the company...

Bristol Bay Sockeye Run Tops Pre-Season Forecast; Harvest Closing In

Landings in Bristol Bay are on track to exceed the pre-season harvest forecast of 32.26 million sockeye, with cumulative catches reaching 29.44 million as of July 22, close but not yet at the target.

The full sockeye return has already cleared the bar. The July 22 report showed 44.64 million sockeye returned to Bristol Bay, surpassing the pre-season inshore run forecast of 44.05 million. Cumulative bay-wide escapement stood at 15.2 million, roughly 3 million above the pre-season estimate of 11.79 million...

UniSea Faces Proposed $5,859 EPA Penalty for Clean Water Act Violations at Dutch Harbor Facility

UniSea, Inc. faces a proposed $5,859 civil penalty to resolve Clean Water Act violations at its Dutch Harbor, Alaska processing facility, according to a July 20 notice from the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The EPA alleged that UniSea failed to comply with its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System Multi-Sector General Permit (No. AKR06AC21), which governs discharges of pollutants from the facility into Iliuliuk Harbor, a high-quality receiving water.

According to the expedited settlement agreement, violations fell into two categories...

Alaska Sockeye Harvests Meeting Forecasts, Pink and Chum Landings Far Below 5-year Averages

Bristol Bay’s sockeye harvest has reached 29.2 million salmon as of July 16, 2026, very close to the pre-season forecast of 32 million. Kodiak’s harvest of 785,000 as of July 15 has so far exceeded its pre-season estimate of 730,000 in landings for sockeye.  

In the Alaska Peninsula, nearly 4 million sockeye have been harvested, contributing to a statewide total of 34.6 million.  

But for all other species, except coho salmon, which start in September, harvest totals are dismal. Total salmon landings...

Les Hodges: Market Access Becomes the New Measure of Value

The defining issue in the global crab market is no longer production alone. Across every major producing region, the ability to access the highest-value markets is becoming a more important factor of profitability than the size of the harvest itself. Biological conditions continue to improve in Alaska, Norway remains constrained by lower king crab quotas, Russia continues directing premium live product into Asia, and Japan is finding it more difficult to compete for available supply. The result is a global market increasingly shaped by tariffs, sanctions...

Bristol Bay Harvest Now at 7 Million Sockeye of 32.2M Forecast, Few Bright Spots in Season So Far

Bristol Bay’s fleet has started reeling salmon aboard in some districts in Bristol Bay, but YOY comparisons are still significantly below last year at this time.  

The latest harvest numbers from each of the Bay’s five river districts are: 

- Nushagak: 2.8 million cumulative catch of sockeye as of the beginning of this week. In addition, 989,000 Chinook were landed in the district. ADF&G’s forecasted harvest for this three-river district is 13.9 million sockeye...

All's Quiet on the Western Front One Week Before the Traditional Peak of Harvest in Bristol Bay

Bristol Bay's estimated harvest forecast is 32.3 million sockeye, assuming a total run of 44.1 million red salmon. That harvest is usually taken in a whirlwind five to seven days, around or shortly following the Fourth of July. If this week was the quiet before the storm, it was indeed silent.

Commercial catches as of June 23 are 837,509 sockeye salmon. Of the five river systems in the Bay, Ugashik is leading the pack so far with 635,202 salmon landed. Second is Egegik...