Ranking as the world's second-largest fishery, Alaska pollock supplies global food chains, providing key ingredients for everything from McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish sandwiches to fish sticks and imitation crab.
Although the industry and major clients like McDonald’s say current practices aim to minimize environmental damage, the nets used to harvest pollock often catch other marine life.
This unintentional capture, known as bycatch, has sparked intense conflict following the dramatic collapse of salmon runs across western Alaska. The decline prompted a seven-year ban on Chinook salmon fishing along the Yukon River, disrupting a way of life that dozens of Alaska Native communities have relied upon for generations.
In the Koyukon village of Rampart along the Yukon, Janet Woods said that before the ban, her family's summers revolved around checking nets, processing fish, and tending the smokehouse.
"You think back in history how they tried to destroy us," she said. "Taking our language, our ceremonies, and now our culture, and it’s been forever a fight for us just to hang on to what very little we have."
Ocean researchers attribute the salmon collapse primarily to rising sea temperatures and shifting ocean conditions rather than trawl bycatch. However, fisheries managers hold direct authority over bycatch mortality, leading critics to argue that even minor losses remain critical when salmon runs are depleted.
According to data over the past decade, Bering Sea pollock trawlers caught an annual average of about 18,000 Chinook and 288,000 other salmon, predominantly chum.
"The people that bear the brunt of the conservation measures are people along the river," said Andrew Seitz, a fisheries professor at the University of Alaska Fairbanks.
Industry investments and monitoring efforts
Pollock captains communicate frequently during fishing trips to share real-time information on salmon concentrations, while the fleet observes voluntary weekly closure zones based on reports from the grounds. Every pollock vessel also carries a salmon excluder, a specialized device offering salmon an escape route from the net.
"The amount of science and management effort that goes into improving it is basically unprecedented anywhere," said Matt Tinning, CEO of the At-Sea Processors Association, which represents five Alaska pollock companies.
Every fish, including salmon, caught by the Bering Sea pollock fleet is counted. Onboard observers or cameras monitor trawlers, with similar oversight during deliveries at shoreside processing plants.
Genetic testing shows that most chum salmon intercepted by pollock trawlers do not originate in western Alaska. However, even a relatively small percentage can still represent tens of thousands of fish from struggling runs.
Disputes extend beyond salmon to gear impact
Small commercial halibut and crab fishers, alongside charter operators, have echoed the concerns raised along the Yukon. These groups have faced shrinking catch limits and closures as stocks decline, while groundfish trawlers continue to harvest both species as bycatch.
The debate extends beyond what trawlers catch to how their gear operates. Pollock vessels use pelagic, or midwater, trawls designed to fish within the water column rather than along the seafloor like bottom trawls. However, because pollock often swim near the bottom, these nets can make substantial contact with the seabed.
Consequently, some areas closed to bottom trawling to protect corals, sponges, crab, and other marine life remain open to pelagic trawlers, prompting calls for stricter regulations.
Trawling becomes key political issue in Alaska
Anti-trawl sentiment has united Democrats, Republicans, commercial and sport fishers, and Alaska Native communities — groups that rarely align on natural resource debates.
At least 10 of the original 19 candidates in this year’s governor’s race adopted positions critical of trawling or bycatch. The debate has likewise become a central topic in Alaska’s U.S. Senate race.