The fish behind America’s fish sticks is fueling a fight over trawling in Alaska

The Bering Sea, known for its massive Alaska pollock fishery, has become the center of a heated debate over industrial trawling practices. The net aboard a pollock fishing vessel rose from the rough waves of the Bering Sea, laden with pollock whose heads barely fit through the webbing. This annual payment, billed at $205.00 plus GST for one year, is just a fraction of the industry's profits, which include turning the fish into popular U.S. McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwiches, fish sticks, and imitation crab.

However, the pollock catch also brings unintended bycatch - non-target marine life such as skate, crabs, jellyfish, and salmon. This bycatch accounts for 2% of the pollock fishery's total catch, which can mean hundreds of thousands of salmon annually. This has become a major issue as salmon runs have collapsed in western Alaska, impacting the livelihoods of more than 40 Native communities that have traditionally relied on salmon for generations.

The backlash has extended to other commercial and charter fishers who also face the consequences of declining salmon stocks. Moreover, trawling and bycatch have become hot topics in Alaska's midterm elections, with candidates for governor and the U.S. Senate contest debating the extent to which the industry should be restricted.

Scientists attribute the decline of salmon to warming waters and changing ocean conditions, not trawl bycatch. However, critics argue that bycatch is one of the few fish mortality sources that managers can directly control, and even small losses matter when runs are depleted. Andrew Seitz, a professor of fisheries at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, emphasizes the critical importance of each fish to communities along the Yukon River, which has seen repeated Chinook and chum closures.

The Associated Press observed a pollock vessel, the F/V Progress, during its four-day fishing trip. The boat caught around 210 chum salmon, a significant portion of the vessel's catch. Blake, the boat's captain and a 13-year veteran of the pollock industry, explains that avoiding salmon is a central part of their job. He notes that the search for areas with fewer salmon consumes nearly 3,000 gallons of fuel, making it difficult to fill the boat's holds quickly.

He acknowledges the concerns of subsistence users who feel frustrated by the large-scale industrial fishing operations. Despite these concerns, Blake and industry representatives maintain that the pollock fishery is one of the most well-managed in the world, with captains sharing information about salmon concentrations and following weekly closures based on reports from fishing grounds.

Every salmon caught by the Bering Sea pollock fleet is counted, and trawlers are monitored by observers or cameras, further ensuring responsible fishing practices.